Overpowering Encounters
by Petersta
Summary: After Ketsiubestu Academy and Yuuei have a joint practice together, Eraserhead and Ms. Joke catch up with each other. After talking and observing Ms. Joke, Eraserhead notices that her behavior seems off. Wondering what's wrong, he goes out of her way to check up on her to only find out she's been struggling with depression for years... Eraserjoke
1. Let's Meet Up

"Eraser, wait up!"

Aizawa paused to consider whether or not to stop for Emi, but decided against it. Continuing to walk, he felt someone grasp for his arm.

"Eraser, I need to ask you something. Could you take one moment to stop and listen to me."

Turning his head around to look at Emi, he replied, "Fine."

"Eraser, I wanted to thank you for the opportunity for letting Ketsubutsu Academy come and join your class for a joint practice." Giving a huge grin to show her gratitude to Aizawa, she continued, "It was a great opportunity for students to work together."

Emi then walked away since she thought Aizawa didn't want to deal with her presence than he needed to. Leaving Aizawa alone, she decided to find her class making sure they got back safely.

"Joke, wait." Dumbfounded, Emi turned to face Aizawa. 'What did he want or have to say possibly to stay?'

Brushing his hair out of his face somewhat, Aizawa requested,"We should do this another time."

Confused, Emi could only form the words, "What?"

"I said we should meet up another time." Aizawa blankly stated.

"With the students?"

"Yeah, or you and I could meet up."

Floored, she couldn't believe that Aizawa would even suggest that the two of them would meet up other than for working together. "Eraser, are you asking me on a date?"

"No, I'm just suggesting that the two of us would spend some time outside of work together."

"That sounds like a date to me, Eraser." Emi was sure that Aizawa knew that she wasn't expecting him to offer to hang out with her more privately than they have ever done in the past.

"Emi, will you stop joking around and just say whether or not you'd be up for this."

Emi could see that Eraser was getting irritated especially since he used her first name. "Yeah, I'd be down for that. When were you thinking?"

Becoming more relaxed from Emi finally taking him seriously, Aizawa took a deep breath and began to think. "Well, I would like to meet someone soon, but you would probably have to come to Yuuei. Would this coming weekend work for you?"

"Can I get back to you about that? I don't have my calendar on me at this moment."

"Fine, but I'll give you until tonight to get back to me."

Satisfied with having until tonight to get back to Aizawa, she gave him a short hand wave and left. Looking back with turning her head only a little to the side, she looked to see if Aizawa was still there. 'It looks like he left.'

"Joke, you've gotten worse at perceiving your surroundings."

Startled, Emi activated her quirk to defend herself for the time being, but was stopped as soon as she was who it was.

With his quirk activated to stop Emi, Aizawa grabbed her wrist and looked her in the eyes. "Emi, what's wrong? It's not normal for you to be this tense. Heck, your reaction was very delayed. That's quite unlike you."

Unable to process what had just happened, Emi frozed and couldn't form any words to come out.

"Something isn't right about this Emi...what's up? You can talk to me about this, we've known each other for about ten years now."

"It's nothing."

"Emi, stop acting like it is nothing. I need you to look at me and tell me that to my face."

Gradually Emi raised her face to make eye contact with Aizawa and without any emotion stating, "Shota, it's nothing for you to worry about. I'll be fine." She tried to fake a smile on her face.

"That's it. If you won't talk to me here, what if we meet somewhere private. Would you be able to stay here at Yuuei for a few hours while I contact the other teachers at Ketsubutsu that you'll be staying here for a while longer."

"Shota, I should really be leaving with my students now." Trying to walk away, Shota pulled her towards him again.

"Emi, you can't bury your emotions continually. I know that you want to be the bubbly, enthusiastic hero that everyone sees you as, but it is okay to let those emotions out once in awhile. Do you have anyone at all that you talk to?"

Tears started to form in Emi's eyes. Instead of looking at Aizawa for comfort, she continued staring at the ground.

Seeing that Emi was crying, Aizawa brought her into a hug which brought her to sob into his uniform. "Emi, I'm sorry that you don't feel comfortable enough to talk to me about whatever is on your mind, but I can't let you go home like this. I'll call someone at Yuuei to let the staff at Ketsubutsu to not to worry about you since you'll be here."

Unable to stop the tears, Emi struggled to get loose from Aizawa's grasp.

"Emi, I cannot let you go when something is bothering you that deeply. I would at least like to know if there is anyone at all for you to talk to."

"I do...I've been distant lately though."

"How come?"

"If I tell you, you'll think of my differently."

"Why would I think that? Everyone has their issues."

"It's not me, Shota. It's not something that anyone would believe."

"Come on, let's talk about this back at my place."

Not caring if anyone saw anything, Aizawa continued to comfort Emi by putting his arm around her shoulder for support walking back to the 1-A apartments.


	2. My Vulnerability

It was a long walk for the two of them, but Aizawa continued to hold onto Emi the whole way. It was decided that Hizashi would let Ketsubustu Academy know not to worry about their teacher being gone and she had certain things to deal with at Yuuei. Emi and Aizawa were about to enter the apartment building when a few students came out to greet them.

Curious, Midoriya asked,"Woah! Ms. Joke, why are you here out of all places? Aren't you supposed to be getting back to Ketsubustu with your students?"

Emi responded with only a slight smile, "I have business to discuss with your teacher, Mr. Aizawa."

"You two look to be too friendly just to be discussing business," Tsuyu flatly stated.

As Emi acknowledged that the two of them were being too intimate in front of the students, she pushed Aizawa to the side. This caused Aizawa to grab her wrist once again to keep her from doing anything reckless especially since his students were all around the area.

"Joke, come on. Let's get inside."

Emi followed Aizawa as he dragged her across the apartment building into his quarters. She looked around to see that Yuuei made the living quarters to be pretty cozy for the students living here. Aizawa opened his door to be greeted by a little girl with red eyes and long white hair.

"Eri, this is Ms. Joke. She'll be joining us here for a while tonight."

Eri with a wide grin said, "Hello, Ms. Joke. It's nice to meet you!"

"Thank you. Are you taking care of her Eraser?"

"Yeah, I'm her caretaker."

Kneeling, Emi got on an eye level with Eri and asked, "How long have you been staying with Aizawa?"

"I've been here with Mr. Aizawa for about three months now."

With a wide grin, Emi stated, "Wow! I bet Aizawa has been treating you very well here! How long is she going to stay with you, Eraser?"

"I'm not sure, but she'll be here for probably a few years I'm guessing. She was the one that I was talking to you about meeting this coming weekend."

"I'm humbled to get this pleasure now. Eri, you seem like such a precious, lovable little girl! I hope that you and I will get plenty of opportunities to visit." Beaming with joy, Emi still wanted to make sure that she could keep her composure in front of Eri.

"Eri, will you excuse Ms. Joke and me? You can go and see if either Deku or Mirio is around. Otherwise, you can come back, and I'll call Hizashi over."

"Ok, Mr. Aizawa!"

Eri bowed and skipped out the door, leaving Emi and Aizawa alone.

"Emi, take a seat. Would you like a cup of tea? It'll probably soothe your nerves."

Hesitant, Emi took a deep breath and looked at Aizawa to see if he genuinely cared or felt like he had to help her out since they had known each other for a while.

"I suppose I'll take some green tea if you have that."

Walking away, Emi made her way from the kitchen to the living room which was connected to the kitchen. She decided to sit on the sofa. Instead of trying to talk to Aizawa and start some small talk, she looked around her surroundings. There were a few drawings taped on the wall; they had to be Eri's. On them, they had two boys with green hair and the other with blonde hair. There were some drawings; she made of Shota too. It seemed like Eri drew the people she spent the most time with.

"Joke, this isn't normal for you to not have started up a conversation yet."

Aizawa came towards the living room with a tray holding a teapot, and two teacups, one must have been for him. As he made his way over, he sat down the tray, put the teacup plates down, and set down the cups themselves on the plates. Sitting next to Emi on the sofa, he grabbed the cup he laid down for himself.

"Here, you can help yourself to more if you like."

Grabbing for her tea, Emi took a big deep sigh and took a small sip from the cup.  
As Aizawa made eye contact, he asked sincerely, "So, what's been going on?"

"A lot has been going on, Eraser."

"You can call me Shota here. I can't help you if would won't tell me what's bothering you."

"You'll think of me differently if I tell you."

"Why would you think that, Emi?"

"Because I'm supposed to be this bubbly, energetic, and ecstatic hero that everyone knows and loves."

Tears began to fall down Emi's cheeks. Trying to hide the fact that she was crying, she quickly grabbed the loose end of her bandana to wipe away her tears. Suddenly, she felt an arm put around her shoulder. Looking to see what was going on, she saw a sympathetic face. Never had she seen Shota this concerned for her. Of course, she knew he had a heart, but they never talked about their personal issues ever to each other. Before she could say anything, he wiped away her tears with his thumb.

"Emi, you don't have to be peppy all the time. It's normal to feel overwhelmed, stressed, or troubled."

"This is going to be a continuous struggle for the rest of my life, and I've been dealing with it for more than two years already. I should have it figured already."

"No one can figure everything in their life. What are you dealing with Emi?"

Taking another deep breath, Emi looked Shota in the eyes trying to not choke on her words as they came out. "I have…" More tears began to fall her cheeks which Aizawa gently wiped away.

"I have...severe...depression and anxiety…"

Feeling exposed, Emi started wailing. Aizawa grabbed the cup of tea in her hand and set it down. He then embraced Emi into his arms, letting her cry as much as she wanted into his chest.

Stroking her hair and back, Aizawa softly said, "I'm so sorry, Emi. I can't imagine how rough that must be to go through, but you do have people who care about you. Heck, I'll be willing to talk to you whenever...I can't believe I just said that."  
Emi lightly chuckled,"You're softer than you make yourself to be, Eraser."

"I told you to call me Shota."

Looking up with Aizawa still holding her, she gave a warm smile.

"Thank you, Shota. I've been trying to hold everything in without letting you know how I'm doing. I guess I don't want anyone to worry about me or think that I'm causing a scene."

Chuckling at the thought that Emi wouldn't want to cause a scene, he thought of multiple occasions where she had created a commotion. Heck, most of the times he saw Emi, she would turn everyone's attention to the two of them.

"Shota, what's so funny? I didn't say that would cause you laugh and I didn't use my quirk...I don't get it…"

"I would think that it wouldn't matter to you if you caused a scene."

"But I'm trying to be amusing and comical to others. It's different."

"So every time you joke around about going out with me in front of me that's different?"

"I'm not joking about being interested in you, Shota. I really like you, but you shoot me down every time. It's starting to be quite unbearable, but then you're the only one I've ever felt this way. I'm crazy about you, Shota…"

Pushing herself away from Aizawa, she only got tugged back and embraced tenderly back into his arms. Even after repeatedly trying to get away, she gave up and bawled into his shirt.

"Emi, if you have taken it more seriously, I wouldn't have thought you were joking around."

Flustered, Emi whimpered,"Why would you think anyone would be joking if they asked someone to go out with them? I like you way too much ever to consider joking about how I feel about you, Shota. My mind can't stop thinking about you..."

Aizawa's eyes widen as he began to process the information that Emi had confessed to him. He liked Emi, but did he like her that in that way? He never really considered it after time, and again, she continually asked. Sure, she was cute, and she could have a serious conversation when they were alone. Otherwise, she was honestly too much for him to deal with. Though, he never did hang out with her one-on-one except for one of their missions while they worked near each other. It couldn't hurt to hang out with her alone just the two of them. They were alone right now, and he was planning on introducing Emi to Eri. Why would he want Eri to meet Emi if she didn't matter to him? He had to be honest with himself; he cared a great deal for Emi. Why would he be holding her like this and be spending the time to figure out was wrong with her then…

"Shota, you've been taking a long time to respond. I guess I understand how you feel. I'll leave now since I'm too much for you. Anyway, thanks for trying to help."

She was quietly sobbing to herself as she got up to leave. Shota shot up to pull her back by grasping her arm. Flabbergasted, Emi couldn't process what was happening and was drawn into Aizawa's arms where she was warmly embraced.

"I apologize, Emi. I shouldn't have assumed that you weren't sincere. If you still want, you and I can go out this weekend just the two of us as a date."

"Why now, Shota? You haven't ever shown any interest in me before now. You're only probably only offering to go out with me since you feel sorry for me."

Pausing, Aizawa caressed Emi's face as he responded, "Emi, I care for you more than I would like to admit, unfortunately. I'm not the best with admitting my feelings, but the individual I wanted you to meet was Eri. I thought that you two would get along quite well. Plus I would say that enjoy your company even though I don't always appreciate your sense of humor."

"I don't know how to respond."

Tightening his hold on her, he whispered in her ear, "You don't have to, Emi. I apologize again if it seems I have been more distant in the last few years. I care way more about you than you'll ever know."

"Why did you never say anything?"

"Never thought there was a need to. I thought you were joking about your affection towards me, so I never considered the idea."

Looking up from Aizawa's embrace, Emi locked eyes with him. Even though she had known him for long, she never noticed how soft and warm his eyes were. Despite his eyes being black, she felt like she was swimming in a vast open ocean, but with a bright starry night sky reflecting on the water. It felt like all of her life's struggles were being wiped away. All of a sudden, Touching her chin, Shota raised her face and brought it closer to his. Her mind became blurred from overthinking what was about to happen. Before she knew it, Shota's lips locked with hers. It felt like she was in a world of bliss. Her knees were weakening thinking about how her crush of ten years was now kissing her. It felt wrong considering the circumstances, but part of her didn't care. She wanted to cherish this moment forever. Returning the kiss fervently, she caressed her hands through his black hair.

"Shota, I want to continue this, but..."

Looking at Emi's expression, Aizawa quickly figured how uneasy she was feeling.

Putting a hand on his head, he apologized, "Yeah, I underestimated myself. Sorry, I should have controlled myself more. If you still want to, I'll be more than happy to listen to you further about your mental health."

Giving a small smirk, "Yeah, I'd like that, but I think I should save this for another day. I'll let you know about this coming weekend by tonight. See you later, Eraser!"

Grabbing her belongings, she walked out of the room heading for the door. Aizawa stood there not knowing what to think of what just happened. Looking at his phone to see what time it was, he spoke to himself, "Another time then…"


	3. Numbness

Reaching for the alarm clock, Emi struggled to get out of bed to get ready for the new day ahead of her. Thoughts went through her head about the day before and if it happened as she got prepared for the day.

She felt off the entire day, but she made sure that her attitude and how she displayed herself to her school didn't change. Continuing with her usual demeanor, she made plenty of jokes and encouragements for her class that day. Of course, she gave them different ideas on how to improve, but she felt empty inside. Thinking that she had learned to cope with her depression and anxiety from the past, her current self would tell her otherwise. Sure, she struggled with it time and again, but it had never been this bad for quite a while. Why was this affecting her now out of all times? The one time when she should be mentally and physically stable for her students, she felt weak. It had been this way for a few months now, and counseling or medication was not helping her at the moment.

After finishing her day at Ketsubestu, Emi decided that she would go to bed after grading the student's work and taking a hot shower. It was the only thing she had the energy to do. She didn't want to bother anyone, so this was the best she could do. Her thoughts were beginning to feel like she got stabbed in her chest.

Getting into the shower, she noticed that her body was trembling from the anxiety and all she could do to cope with the stress was going through her breathing exercises. Closing her eyes, she stood there under the hot water erasing her mind from everything. She was awoken from her thoughtlessness when her phone started going off.

"Crap." Emi got out of the shower and reached for her phone to see who on earth was calling her. Looking at the caller ID, she was breathless. Eraser was calling her. 'I don't understand why he's calling. He never calls.' She thought to herself. Picking up with the shower still on in the background, she answered. "Hello…"

"You answered. I was beginning to think something was wrong. I messaged you a few times this evening, but you didn't reply. I started to worry and decided to come by. No one answered so I decided to try calling you instead."

Interrupting, Emi questioned him, "Wait, are you outside my door right now?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Shit."

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing. It's totally fine. Listen, I'm going to finish my shower, but I can unlock the door so you can come in. I don't want you waiting out there for too long."

"Emi, I can leave if it's that big of a problem."

"No, it's fine. You came up all the way from Yuuei, and I would feel bad if you left without getting to do what you came here for."

"Emi, it's not a problem if…"

Cutting Shota off, Emi bluntly said, "Shota, come in. I unlocked the door. I'll try my best not to take so long in the shower and get dressed. It is not a problem. I would feel worse if you left. Honestly."

Emi hung up. She was expecting Eraser to be in her living room by the time she got ready. Re-entering the shower, she cleaned herself quickly and efficiently. It probably took a good five minutes for her to do so. She reached out for her towel, dried herself and went straight to her bedroom, locking the door behind to get dressed. She didn't care what Eraser thought if she came out with a baggy t-shirt and shorts. She was planning on going to bed after this anyway. Brushing through her hair, she looked over herself to make sure nothing was off. She then walked out of her bedroom and into the living room where Eraser was there waiting for her. He was sitting on her sofa. Turning his gaze towards her, Emi blushed looking at how he was dressed compared to her. Yeah, this was her home, but he at least looked presentable while she looked like some lazy slob.

Sarcastically, Aizawa said, "You're alive."

Returning the sarcasm, Emi said, "Eraser is worrying about me. I thought I'd never see that happen."

"Hey, even though I don't show my emotions very often, I do have a heart."

"It seems so."

Aizawa changed the subject, "Anway, why didn't you ever message me about this weekend? It's unlike you to not be on top of things."

"Eraser, I told you that I'm not doing well mentally. All I want to do right now is hide away from society and sleep my troubles away."

"I've told you, Emi, call me Shota. Anyhow, what brought on your depression?"

"I've had it since starting my hero career. Even when you and I met each other, I had it, but I had it under control."

"What do you mean you had it under control?"

"I figured out how to cope with it. I was taking meds and went through counseling, but I knew how to deal with anxiety and depression properly. The things I used to cope with my depression no longer works. So, here I am at square one."

Thinking of how to respond to everything Emi told him, he took a moment to process the information. Finally, he sighed and accepted the devasting truth.

"You haven't started all over again, Emi. You've gone from your previous experiences, but now you have to figure out how to overcome this obstacle. I know it'll be difficult, but I'm more than willing to support you through this. You don't have to do this alone. You have many people who care about you."

Pausing, he questioned whether or not he should tell Emi about Eri. She would find out sooner or later about Eri's condition. So, he resolved that by saying, "I know this sounds insane, but I think that you and Eri would get along somewhat since you've both dealt with some very traumatic things. She doesn't have depression, but she has PTSD. For her to know that someone else is going through some similar symptoms will perhaps help both of you. Of course, you probably shouldn't share everything, but just for Eri to know that she's not the only one who struggles with a mental illness."

"Hmm, I guess I could help her or talk to her about it, but I would prefer to feel better mentally before talking to her about it. I'm not all there mentally enough to talk to her about it, Shota. Lately, I feel numb daily."

"What have you done lately to cope with it? Have you tried talking to anyone about it?"

"People know that I'm not all mentally there and the staff at Ketsubestu knows about my depression. I don't want to seem like a nuisance to anyone. I've tried doing everything that usually helps me cope with it. I've read, exercised, listened to music, taken showers or baths, written down my emotions, and a few other things. Nothing helps."

"Is there anything that triggers these emotions? Anything that has been extremely stressful in your life?"

Staring at the ground, Emi choked on her words as she spoke, "Yeah, a girl died while I was on the job." Tears started streaming down her face as she struggled to talk. "It's all my fault. I should have been in her place...She's gone because I couldn't protect her."

Emi fell to the ground sobbing uncontrollably. She had never admitted this to anyone about how she much guilt she endured about that grim day in battle. People did know about the events of what happened, but they thought she was handling it pretty well. Especially since a few months had passed on by then. Yeah, they suggested that she received some counseling, but she hated her counselor. It was difficult to trust anyone anymore. She was continually pushing herself away from the world and living in constant fear of thinking about someone else perishing under her protection. Many what-ifs were running through her head, and she knew that thinking about what could happen would do absolutely nothing for her. She knew it was impossible to predict the future. If only she could ask Sir Hawkeye to see if there was any hope left for her, but he passed away a few months ago. Plus she didn't want to take away from anyone's time or energy.

Walking over to Emi, Shota got down on his knees and lightly started rubbing her back to soothe her.

"I'm sorry, Emi. It probably won't help you or make you feel better, but one of my students got killed when I was supposed to be the one shielding them from harm's way. So I can understand your pain. It's not an easy situation to deal with. If you ever need someone to listen, I'm more than willing to do that for you since I've dealt with a similar situation."

"I can't be reliant on you though to solve my issues to only drag you down with me. It's not your responsibility to deal with my problems."

"I'll decide for myself if your problems are too much. If you are willing to trust me, I'll listen as long as you want me to."

"Okay. Could you continue to hold me?"

"Don't expect this to be a continuous thing, Joke."

"I just want to feel like my normal self again." Emi began sobbing into Shota's shoulder. Putting his arms around her, he started stroking her back.

"Emi, you'll get there eventually if you keep the right mindset and get the help you need."

"I know, but I want to disappear. I wish I were the one who would have died instead of that girl and I know that's wrong. There are people out there who care for me, but life feels like a huge struggle at the moment. I want to be me again."

It was strange to see Emi expressing any emotion other than the normal energetic personality that she usually gave off. Shota decided to lead Emi to her room and let her get some rest. He thought that tomorrow they could do something, especially since it now the weekend.

Instead of getting in bed, Emi took a blanket and went back to her living room to lie on the couch.

"How long do you plan on staying?"

"Well, I came over to make sure you were okay."

Wanting to do something than what she had planned originally, randomly asked, "Want to watch a movie?"

"I planned on going back."

Disappointed, Emi tried to distract herself by getting herself comfortable to sleep on the couch. "Oh."

Not wanting to upset Emi, Shota questioned her. "What movie did you have in mind?"

"Rashomon."

"Going for a classic? I didn't take you as that type of person. I suppose I could watch it with you."

Shota plopped himself on the couch as Emi got the TV ready for the movie. As she was setting everything up, he noticed details about her that he hadn't seen before. Her hair was noticeably shorter, not even reaching to her shoulders and wore a large t-shirt tucking it into her shorts. She was still taking good care of her body even if she was struggling, Shota had to admit that she very well toned. Her thighs and calves were nicely defined, but without being too bulky. Now studying her face, he noticed that she didn't have that pure shimmering brightness radiating off her. Whenever the two of them worked together or happened to see one another, her face was always gleaming with joy. Judging by what she had gone through, she was doing rather quite well.

Turning around, Emi got up and sat right next to Shota. Getting herself situated, she stated, "Okay, I think everything is set up."

"I'll let Hizashi know that I'm going to be later than planned. It won't take long."

"You don't have to stay if it's a problem."

It was reassuring to have someone come and visit especially Shota. Even though it was comforting to have him here by her side, it was strange seeing him concerned for her or showing any emotion than his usual hollow, lifeless expression on his face consistently. The other expression, Shota would show her is when she would get him irritated at her because of her jokes which he never found funny or amusing. She still made it her goal to make him genuinely laugh someday.

The movie had been playing for about 45 minutes when Emi thought it was now or never to try to cuddle with her beloved hero. She leaned her arm on his shoulder when he twitched.

"What are you doing?"asked Shota.

"I wanted to curl up closer to you."

Narrowing his eyes, he met eye contact with her. "And how do you think I feel about that?"

Thinking of past experiences, Emi thought out loud, "Well, there have been multiple occasions where you embraced me and comforted me. That is probably quite different though. I was hoping I could get away with it and that you would return the affection. But I was wrong."

She took her vision off of him turning it back to the movie. Deciding she'd try to act as if everything was alright. She got tugged into Shota's shoulder. The decision was made by him ultimately, and Emi wasn't going to oppose it.

After a while, Emi starting drifting off during the last 30 minutes of the movie. Eventually, she fell while in Shota's arm. Not wanting to wake her, he reached for the TV remote and turned it off when the movie finished. Maybe it wasn't that horrible spending time with Emi? The circumstances were off, but he found himself content with the situation.

Watching Emi quiet, steady breaths, he decided to rest his head on her's. Nestling her into him, he brought her closer to him before he fell asleep himself.


	4. Delayed

Waking up, Shota noticed he still had Emi asleep in his arms. Without trying to wake her, he reached for his pocket to check his phone. It was nine in the morning, and he fell asleep at about eight last night. Was he that exhausted? Wouldn't be surprising since he always had his sleeping bag with him to take a nap on the go. Looking back at his phone, there were multiple messages and calls from Hizashi. Emi nudged Shota in the face stretching from her slumber.

Irritated, Shota spoke up, "Was that necessary?"

"Sorry, it's a force of habit. I can't believe you stayed this long."

"You were fell asleep, and I didn't want to wake you up."

Teasing, Emi interrupted, "Awww, you stayed the night. Isn't that cute?"

Ignoring the comment, Shota got up and headed towards the door.

"Where are you going? You can't leave with an empty stomach!"

"I stayed longer than planned. Hizashi has been calling and messaging me about where I've been."

"Well, I could come with you at least! It is the weekend, and you told me that you wanted me to visit with Eri. There is nothing I have planned for this weekend anyways unless if you've changed your mind."

Shota stopped in his tracks, turning his head to the side.

"Do what you want, but I'm leaving either way."

"Let me get dressed. It'll only be a few. I promise!"

"Every woman I've ever known takes longer than a few minutes to get ready."

"No, seriously it won't take me that long."

"If I'm ready in ten minutes, you can leave without me."

Shota nodded his head and waited patiently. Looking around at his surroundings, it was no surprise to see that Emi's apartment decorated with loads of color. There was a lot of classic Japanese art. Without getting much time to observe the paintings more closely, he got pawed from behind.

"Meow."

Turning his attention to the cat, he said to himself, "I didn't Emi was a cat person."

Rolling over onto its belly, the cat meowed until Shota gave her some attention.

Coming into the room, Emi saw that her cat was asking for attention even though she was getting it.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I guess, Aki got locked in my room last night. Otherwise, she would have made her presence known by now. It looks like she's comfortable with you. For some reason, she either very timid or outgoing. "

"She's very vocal. Since when did you have a cat?"

"I brought her home a year and a half ago from the shelter. She was only six months old at the time. Sad to say, she was depressed when I first got her, but I fell in love with her when I first spotted her. There was a connection between us, so I brought her home, and the rest is history. Anyway, enough about my cat. Let's get going."

Grabbing her coat and purse, Emi started walking toward the door to head out to Yuuei with Shota.

"Are you coming?" asked Emi.

"Yeah, I just got distracted."

"Guess I would get more attention from you if I were a cat?"

"Hey, now. That's not up for discussion."

"HA! Don't want to admit you have a greater love for them than people? I would understand since people can be pretty toxic."

Shota took a sigh before replying to Emi's obnoxious statement. "Emi, do you think comparing yourself to a cat is going to solve anything?"

"It was a joke! Or you could at least play along with it you know."

She turned her head to acknowledge Aizawa briefly but decided to continue the conversation would solve nothing. So she kept walking to the subway station. The rest of the walk there was agonizingly quiet for Emi. She thought of things or jokes to talk about, but it felt like it would be best for her to say nothing.

As they got to the subway station, they bought the necessary subway passes to get to Yuuei.

Not knowing if she was going to come back later that night, Emi only bought a one-way ticket. For some reason, something seemed off as they got onto the subway car and into the seats. It felt like something disastrous was going to happen at any moment.

"Shota, the atmosphere feels unpleasant."

Looking the place over before saying anything, he decided that they were safe. "We'll be fine. If anything happens, we can react accordingly."

Taking in what Aizawa told her, she tried to keep her mind off the unsettling feeling she getting. Examining the people on the subway, there was a girl with blonde hair and yellow cat-like eyes. The girl wore a school girl's uniform which didn't make sense to Emi since it was the weekend. There was some reason Emi couldn't look away from the girl. It seemed that if she looked away, something horrifically wrong would happen. She decided to elbow Shota without taking off her sight of the girl.

"Hey, Shota. Is there something sinister about that girl over there with the blonde hair and two messy side buns? Maybe I'm just goi…"

Interrupting Emi, Aizawa swore under his breath. "Shit."

"You know her?"

"It's a story for later. For now, we have to get off this thing."

"I can't stop looking at her. I feel that if I look away, she'll do something devious. Taking advantage of the situation."

Thinking of his options quickly, he determined that it would be best for Emi to keep her watch on young Toga Himiko while he led them out of the subway station. It could quickly become a dangerous situation for them and the people around them if Himiko were to spot Aizawa.

Pulling Emi towards him, he whispered into her ear, "Emi, I'll need you to keep on watching that girl and whatever you do, do not take your sight off of her. I'll lead us out of here, but you'll have to trust me since you necessarily won't be seeing where we're going."

Without asking the millions of questions going through her mind, she concluded it would be best to trust Aizawa's judgment with this. "Okay, I trust you."

He was shocked to see that Emi didn't bring up any suggestions or questions, but he was guessing by how he reacted told her enough to know that it was dire that they got out of here as soon as possible. He grabbed onto Emi's hand but knew that it would leave too much space between them, so he moved his grip onto her upper arm. Carefully making his way through the crowd to the subway door, he continued to check for any obstacles so Emi wouldn't bump or trip on anything or anyone. Finally making his way to the farthest door in their car, he tightened his grip on Emi. It was his mission to get both of them out of there safely. Turning his head to check on how Emi was holding up with his sense of urgency, he saw that she was keeping her composure pretty well.

"She saw me, Shota."

Trying to consider what to do after they got off the subway, Shota navigated quickly through his thoughts to come up with the best solution to their problem. He wanted to know if Himiko saw him and did she know who Emi was? It may have helped that the two of them were in their everyday clothes instead of their hero costumes.

"She's coming over here. Do you want me to do anything?"

"No, remain how you are until I tell you to do so."

"She's almost here…"

Cringing at the fact that they probably couldn't escape that easily, he waited patiently for the subway to stop. It had to be coming up shortly.

"Miss, do I know you? Your face sure does look familiar, but I can't put a name to it. "

Figuring how to respond, Emi hastily came up with something on the spot. "Hmm, strange. I can't say I know who you are."

"That's tragic. You'll probably me starred as one of the big news headliners in the future then the whole country of Japan will know who I am!" Himiko started laughing hysterically but stopped abruptly when the door to the sub car opened. Beginning to walk out, she waved back to Emi when she noticed who was with her. "I recognize that famous scowl, why it's Aizawa Shota otherwise known as Eraserhead."

Wincing at the fact that Himiko knew his identity, the only thing on his mind was to shield Emi from harm's way.

Yelling, Emi tried to get past Aizawa, but he wouldn't budge, "What are you doing, Shota!"

"Stay out of the way, Emi! She's psychotic."

Joining the two's conversation, Toga commented, "So you know who Eraserhead is then? Funny. I liked you, but I guess this means we're on opposite sides. I hope you won't take that against me. If I heard correctly, it's Emi. Isn't it? Well, I hope we can still be acquaintances."

It was all said with a toying matter. Himiko switched emotions from sentence to sentence, phrase to phrase; it was too much to take in. Both Emi and Shota watched as she pulled out a dagger from under her skirt. She ran towards Shota first. Knowing that he didn't have his capture weapon on him, she knew that she could deceive him somehow. To their benefit, Toga did not know what Emi's quirk was.

Thinking that perhaps she would jump from above, Shota got ready to dodge her. However, she went under his legs to only get past him so she could target Emi. Taking her dagger, she aimed for Emi's abdomen.

Instantly Emi countered Toga's attacked by grabbing her wrist, pulling her forward, and twisting her arm pushing her to the ground. Toga was now disabled on the ground. Emi was holding her down by placing her weight onto Toga's back while still keeping her grip on the attacker's arm. Swiping the knife out of the girl's hand, Emi reached out with the knife motioning for Aizawa to grab it from her.

"Shota, here take this."

Mockingly, Toga spoke up, "That was fun! Let's do it again and see how it turns out then..."

Taking the knife, Shota cut a large enough piece to tie Toga's wrists together behind her back.

Questioning Aizawa's judgment, Emi asked, "Are you sure that's enough to contain her? I'm sure that she'll figure some way out."

Impatient, Aizawa responded shortly, "Unless if you have a better plan, I'd shut it."

"I'm just stating the obvious. It honestly feels like a catastrophe just waiting to happen."

Without taking any more time, Aizawa took the Toga's free hand and tied it to the one that Emi was holding.

Taking Toga's hands from Aizawa, Emi started to untie the clump he created and constructing a constrictor knot. "That knot won't keep her constrained! You have to tie something impossible to get out of, and the police can deal with her after we drop her off."

"Since when did you become a know it all?"

Aizawa was irritated, but Emi thought pestering him would make their relationship look the most natural to the public. After all, that was what people typically saw the two of them react to each other. She would tease him continually while he retorted back with a snide remark.

"I only learned from the best." Adding a wink to her reply, knowing that she'll only cause more tension between the two of them.

Cutting them off, Toga commented, "Cute. It seems as if you two show your affection by not letting the other recognize how fond you are of each other."

Misleading the young criminal, Emi settled that she would play along. "Awww, I'm glad someone else can see our undying love for one another."

Not having it, Shota pulled the knot and led the Toga to the nearest police station.

"Emi, call the police and let them know that we've captured Toga Himiko. You know how to handle the rest."

"Wait, you think the police can hold onto me? Even if they do keep me for a while, the League of Villains will come for me."

Not having it, Shota blankly stated, "What makes you think that they would risk themselves for you?"

Toga didn't know how to react to what Aizawa said but knew that in the end, she would get away somehow. Ultimately, she didn't know how she'd escape. For now, all she could do was wait for the police to come to pick her up and figure out how to solve this dilemma for herself.

"Come on, Himiko. We don't have all day."

"Eraser, the police will be here shortly. So, we'll have to sit here and wait patiently. Aren't we lucky!" Said Emi chirpily.

Aizawa replied sarcastically, "Well, isn't that fantastic."

Moderately punching in the shoulder, Emi persisted with the flirtatious behavior. "Just you and me, huh, Eraser. It almost seems too good to be true."

Walking towards them, came a few officers to take young Toga away. One of the cops finally started to speak up, saying, "Ms. Joke and Eraserhead! I didn't think we'd get the opportunity to work with you two again."

Emi reciprocated the greeting."It's great to see you all again. I'm not sure how long it's been since we worked together. What I can say is that it's been far too long." Pushing her the right side of her back, she recalled how many occasions her and Eraser got the opportunity to work together. Zero to none did Eraser show any sign of affection towards her. Of course, she found out recently how he perceived the whole thing as a joke, but why did the circumstances seem different?

Being straightforward, Eraser made himself clear. "Yeah, yeah. Here you go, take her before she has the chance to escape. She's all yours now."

"Saying it how it is like always, Eraser. You haven't changed." Taking her under their custody, they led Himiko Toga back to the police station. "Thanks again!"

As they were leaving the scene, Aizawa gradually intertwined his fingers against Emi's. It was hard to imagine that these soft, delicate were the same that regularly fought whenever trouble was on foot. Maybe he could handle spending time with her daily. As they got closer to the subway station, he hastily let go of Emi's hand so no one would assume or jump to any conclusions.

Excited, Emi stated as she jumped onto the subway chair, "Only a few more stops and we'll be at Yuuei."


	5. Safe Haven

Stepping off of the subway car and onto the platform, Emi took a sigh of relief. "We're finally here."

Impatient, Aizawa strode to apartment building 1-A. "It's noon. We should have been back a long time ago."

Trying to catch up, Emi reasoned with him. "It's not our fault that we got delayed because we got attacked! What was her name again? Something Himiko?"

"Toga Himiko."

Walking up the stairs, Aizawa scanned an ID card to unlock the door to the apartment. Opening the door, he got greeted by many of his students.

"You're back! Everyone was wondering where you went!" Ochaco chirped.

"It was strange not having you here to keep us all in check," stated Minoru.

Being the first one to recognize who their teacher brought along with him, Bakugou bluntly spoke out, "What the hell have you two been up to?"

Forgetting that Emi was with him during the time that he opened the door and now, he was speechless. Leaving it up to Emi to say something, he decided he could quickly shut her down if she said anything ridiculous.

Emi responded casually, "Mr. Aizawa and I are just catching up. Don't worry about us; you all can get back to whatever it was that you were doing." Walking away, she waved back to the students as she made her way to Aizawa's apartment.

"Wait, Ms. Jo…" Izuku was interrupted before he could finish.

"Anyway, I'm leaving." Turning around, Aizawa made his way to his room. He waved letting them know that their conversation was now over.

Once Aizawa made it into his apartment, he heard some laughter coming from his living room.

"Ms. Joke, I enjoy talking to you. Would you be able to visit more often?" asked Eri.

Considering Eri's question, Emi tapped her nose thinking about the reality of her relationship with Shota, job, and her health. She'd love to promise Eri that she could visit frequently or regularly, but it didn't seem very likely.

Uncertain, Emi chuckled as she brought a hand to the back of her head. "Um, I'm sure we'll see more of each other."

Speaking up, Aizawa contradicted her. "I was planning on having you visit at least once a week."

"Oh." She was stunned. With everything that we involved herself in, she wanted to intervene and explain why that wasn't possible for her to come up every week or more.

Changing the subject, Aizawa walked over to the two address them."Eri, I have a meeting at school to attend. Ms. Fukukado will be here to spend time with you while I'm gone."

"Bye, Mr. Aizawa!" Waving as he walked out the door, she then looked over to Ms. Fukukado wondering what she had planned. "So what are we going to do?"

Startled, Emi frantically went through ideas of activities or places they could go. The only problem with leaving is she didn't know how much time they had together. Maybe there was something they could do that she'd never done before. Moving her head to face Eri, she asked some questions.

"What kind of activities do you usually do with Mr. Aizawa or your friends?"

"We visit the pet shelter and go to the park. Hmm, I color a lot. Do you want to come and see my pictures I made?"

"Sure, we can go and look at them."

Getting off the couch, Emi followed Eri to see her drawings. "Is there anything else you do Eri?"

Stopping to answer Emi's question, Eri tried to recall everything she did with everyone. "We went to the culture festival. Mr. Aizawa and Mirio take me out on walks."

"Have you ever done anything to thank them?"

"I've made them pictures before."

"That's right! You were going to show me your drawings."

"Oh, yeah!" Jumping around, Eri led the way to her drawings. It was a short trip from the living room to what must have been her room. It didn't have much color except for her pictures.

"You made those! Wow! I'm impressed! You're such a great artist, Eri!"

Proud of her artwork, Eri grabbed a sheet of paper and some crayons. "I'm going to make you one!"

"You don't have to do that!" She was humbled that Eri would think to make a picture for her.

"But I want to!"

"I'll make you a picture too. Could I have a sheet of paper?" Looking around for a pencil, but not seeing anything except for crayons, Emi asked for a pencil. "Hey, Eri. Do you have any pencils around here?"

Completing what she was drawing first, Eri looked up and nodded her head. "I'll go get one for you." She got up and walked out of the room. Emi waited there for Eri to return. She began to examine Eri's picture. On it was herself, Emi and Shota. Eri was in the middle holding Emi's and Shota's hands.

"Here you go Ms. Fukukado!"

Moving her head around, she acknowledged Eri with a wide grin. "Thank you so much, Eri! I really like your picture so far." She grabbed the pencil to start her own picture.

Eri beamed with gratitude. "Thank you Miss Fukukado."

Grabbing Eri's hands, Emi gave a genuine smile to the young girl. "Call me Emi."

"Ok."

"Let's finish our pictures, and we can go somewhere else afterward."

"Ok!" Walking over to her drawing, Eri sat down and began coloring again.

Emi grabbed her own piece of paper and started sketching a picture of Eri. She went back and forth between studying Eri and drawing it onto her piece of paper. She wanted to make sure that she got every detail of Emi's face as she worked on it. It took a good forty minutes for her to complete the portrait of Eri before she decided it was finished. On the bottom, she wrote a small message reading, 'For Eri, I have enjoyed our time together so much. I can't wait to see how many more adventure we have in the future.'

Seeing that both of them were done with their picture, Eri handed her picture without hesitation to Emi. "Here you go Ms. Emi!"

"Thank you! I made one for you too, Eri." As they exchanged pictures with each other, Emi got up and walked over to the door to put her shoes on. "Let's go to the market. I want to get a few items to use for a recipe. We'll prepare it together before Mr. Aizawa gets back from his meeting. I'm hoping that he'll be able to join us so that we will make three servings for tonight."

"I've never been to the market before!" Wondering what the market was like, Eri was excited to get outside of the campus and experience something new.

"Well, I guess there's always a time to experience something new. I'll wait here for you to get ready for our trip out to the market. Make sure you bring a jacket or coat along since it's chilly outside."

Before running to her room, Eri respectfully bowed. She learned from Mr. Aizawa that she was to treat and show her elders high reverence day-to-day. It was the culture of Japan to show display respect to those in authority and the elders. As she got to her room, she grabbed her jacket with cat ears on the hood that Aizawa bought for her. Eri then ran back to the entryway, put on her coat, and slipped on some boots before opening the door to exit the apartment.

"Have everything?" Emi waited for a reply before she closed the door.

"Yes, Ms. Emi!" Eri grasped onto Emi's hand to make sure she didn't stray away from her side. The two of them walked out of the apartment building, left campus, and went to the local market to shop for the recipe they were going to make.

Once they made it to the market, Emi noted the ingredients that they would need to make the recipe. "We need to get some garlic, chicken broth, pork with the bone in, some medium-sized noodles, bean sprouts, green onion, and garlic oil to help for the cooking."

Curious, Eri looked up at Emi and asked. "What are we making, Ms. Emi?"

"I thought that we could make Kumamoto Ramen, it's a favorite back home. I haven't had it in a while, and I wanted you and Mr. Aizawa to share a little taste of home with me."

Learning that they were going to cook a recipe from Emi's home, Eri beamed with excitement. "That sounds really tasty! I'm sure Mr. Aizawa will love it as much as I will."

"I sure hope so." Emi didn't want to think of what Shota would think of her home preference's recipe.

As they walked around buying the ingredients needed for the night, the two of them talked about their past. Eri shared how she met Mr. Aizawa and the others at UA while Emi explained how her childhood was different than the children who grew up in Tokyo.

Once they knew that they had everything, they headed back to apartment 1-A at UA. Feeling like Emi was her guardian angel, Eri held onto Emi's hand for the entire trip.

It wasn't until they reached the steps of apartment building 1-A that Eri let go of Emi's hand and ran to the front door to unlock it with her key card. "Come on, Ms. Emi! Let's start cooking the ramen!" She opened the door for Emi but hurried to Shota's apartment once Emi had gone through. Eri beamed with excitement as Emi worked on unlocking the door. "We 're home! What do we need to do now? Can we start cooking?"

"Once you take off your shoes and put your belongings away, I want you to go and wash your hands." Emi took her shoes have to demonstrate what was done before you entered someone's home.

Eri rushed to her bedroom after taking her shoes off to put her coat away. As Emi was putting the ingredients that they bought at the market, she heard the faucet turn on. It must have been Eri washing her hands. Going to wash her own hands, Emi watched as Eri finished up and dried her hands.

"What do you want me to do now?" Eri asked.

"I'll wash my hands quickly, and you can go wait for me in the kitchen." Eri walked over to the kitchen as Emi washed up. Emi could hear chairs moving across the floor from the bathroom. She then made her way up to the kitchen to see what Eri was doing. "What are you up to?"

"I'm going to use this chair to stand on."

She did make a valid point, but technically there was the chance that Eri could fall off. "Could we use something other than the chair? For example, a stool, what about that?"

"Mr. Aizawa doesn't have anything like that here."

"Figures. I'll get something for you to use instead of that chair for next time." Emi knew that Shota was basic, but she would think that he would get something for Eri to stand on other than a chair when she needed something that she could reach.

"Is there a cutting board here?"

"No."

Emi took a deep sigh. Thinking of what help she could technically use as a cutting board. "Okay, I guess we're going to settle on just using a plate for our cooking. That's something else we need to get for the two of you guys. What kind of food does Mr. Aizawa make you?"

Looking around in each cabinet to see what they had, she found a few plates, two pots, a few knives, and some chopsticks. She took all of them out and set them out on the counter.

"Eri, I'll do the cooking on the stove and cutting. You can put the ingredients in the pot for us."  
Eri moved her chair over by the stove so she could put the ingredients in more easily. Turning on the stove, Emi put in the broth and pork in to cook while she cut up the vegetables.

"Eri, will you put each of these vegetables in different spots on the plate. Thanks!"

"Ok." Doing what Emi asked of her, Eri took each of the items off the plate that were cut and put them on the plate in separate locations.

"We'll put these in the fridge while we wait for the pork to cook. It should take about two more hours. What do you want to do now as we wait?"

Before answering the question, Eri took the plate that she cut up and put it into the fridge. "I'm not sure."

"What about if practice your writing by creating some stories." Emi picked the small girl up and carried her over to Eri's bedroom. "Do you have any notebook paper we could practice on?"

Getting put down, Eri went over to Shota's office room and brought in some notebook paper. "Here you go."

Looking through the notebook for a blank piece of paper, she found some notes written down by Shota. Not wanting to misuse his trust, she quickly flipped until she saw a page that had no writing on it. "Let's use this page." Emi sat down at the table and started using the pencil she used earlier for drawing. "What do you want to write about?"

"Hmmm, an adventure that the two of us go on!" Eri shouted.

Eri wrote everything down, and Emi made sure that she spelled everything correctly. The two of them came up with a story that was a few pages long.

Emi suggested, "What about if we go and fix up dinner and when Mr. Aizawa gets back, he can eat with us and then hear you read your story. I'll help you struggle with anything."

"Yeah! That sounds good!"

"Let's go to the kitchen and make the rest of supper now."

They both got up and brought the story along. Emi skipped to the table and put the piece of paper by her plate. She then ran to the fridge and got the plate of vegetables out for the soup. "Is the soup ready yet?"

"Yup. I'll take out the bone from the pork, and then you add the ingredients into the pot. We'll let it sit for about twenty minutes. While we're waiting, we'll sit up the table for supper."

"Ok!"

As Eri went and grabbed a chair brought it to the stove, Emi took out the bone that slipped off of the meat. Taking out the meat and putting it on a plate, she sliced it and then put it into the pot. Stepping on the chair, Eri grabbed the plate of vegetables and put them in carefully making sure that she didn't spill any. After they got everything into the pot, Emi put the lid back on so it could cook. She then went to look for some bowls in the cabinets. Finding some, she gave them to Eri telling her, "Set these out on the table please." Eri went to the dining room table and set the bowls out while Emi grabbed the kettle to make some matcha.

"Don't we need some chopsticks?" Asked Eri.

"Yeah, we do. Grab some spoons as well! Thanks, Eri!"

As she responded, Eri grabbed the spoons and chopsticks. "You're welcome."

"Now we sit and wait for the soup to cook. Wait, would you get some pot holders for the tea and the pot."

"Ok."

As Eri got the pot holders, Emi noticed that the table didn't have any chairs. Confused, she asked, "Eri, where did you get that chair to stand on?"

"I got it from out there." Eri pointed to the front door.

"You got it from the living space for the students?"

"Yeah."

Lost for words, Emi questioned herself. Did Shota know about how Eri was using the chair regularly? Speaking calmly, "We're going to put that back out there. It's not for us to you, okay?"

"Ok."

Trying to resolve this the best she could, Emi bent down promising her, "I'll get you something to stand up to reach for things around here, okay? I promise."

"Ok."

The two of them went out the front door to put the chair from where Eri got it originally.

While they were making their way back to the apartment, they heard a familiar voice from behind. "What was that chair doing in the apartment?"

Turning around to acknowledge the familiar voice, Emi answered. "Eri brought that chair to use to reach things around in your apartment. I thought it was yours until just a few minutes ago." She brushed her hand back with her hand thinking of what to say next. How was she to tell him that they had the next few hours planned out for him?

Coming back from a long day, Aizawa sighed. "Well, I suppose. I'll get supper ready, or I could order something if you want."

"Mr. Aizawa, we made supper! Ms. Emi and me!"

"Oh? And you didn't burn down the apartment? Surprising especially since Joke helped you."

Not having it, Emi sassed back. "Ha-ha-ha. Very funny."

Continuing to tease Emi, Aizawa chuckled. "At least I can a sense of humor that's worth laughing at."

Confused at what was happening, Eri joined their conversation. "I didn't think that was very funny, Mr. Aizawa."

Watching to see if he could get a reaction from Emi, Aizawa stated, "You'll understand it more when you get older."

Eri continued to speak her mind. "It didn't sound very nice."

Feeling gratitude, Emi stuck out her tongue at Shota and went into the apartment to leave the conversation. Eri and Shota both followed along to find Emi carrying the pot to the table.

Aizawa was baffled to find that they used that thing to make something. "What did you make that needed that huge thing?"

Emi continued to be sassy with Shota, stating,"You'll need to use that small amount of patience you have to wait and see." She went over to grab the tea kettle realizing that they forgot the teacups. "Eri, will you set the teacups out once I get them out?"

"Yup." Eri came over as Emi got the teacups from the cabinets and gave them to her.

Turning the stove off as she took the kettle off, Emi brought it to the table and sat it down. "Okay, we're ready."

Pressing his fingers between the bridge of his nose, Aizawa questioned them. "What is this?"

"Supper!" Eri said excitedly.

"Why go to all this trouble?"

"Ms. Emi asked what I haven't done before, and she said we could make a recipe from back home."

Emi joined in, trying to settle things. "It isn't a big deal. I thought that it would be nice to share a little part of home with me and that Eri could learn to cook some as well. Eri was super excited all day to do this for you, and she still is. Please do this for her."

Caving in, Shota sat down in his usual spot at the table.

Eri was thrilled as everyone sat down including herself. "Yay! You're going to love this, Mr. Aizawa!"

"Oh, have you tried it already?"

"No, but if it's a favorite of Ms. Emi's. It must be good." Eri stated it as fact.

Blushing, Emi opened the pot and served everything the ramen trying to recuperate herself. The whole time, Emi and Shota sat there quietly while Eri talked about her day. After everyone got done eating, Emi grabbed the dishes and put them into the sink to wash them later. Eri ran to go get her story to read it for the two of them especially Shota.

"Eri has written a story that she would like to read to you. She came up with it all herself." As Emi made her way to the couch, Aizawa grabbed her and brought her down with him. Being a tease, Emi boldly stated, "Looks like someone wants to cuddle with me, huh?"

Stern, Aizawa still had Emi in his grasp. "Careful or you might get yourself into more trouble."

Emi continued to badger him, "What happens then?"

Not answering the question, Aizawa changed the subject. "You're going to stay here with me while Eri tells her story."

"I'm helping her if she stumbles through."

Watching Eri come back with her story in her hand, Shota smirked. "She'll figure it out by herself."

Shocked that he had no sympathy, Emi lightly slapped his shoulder. "She is only six, Shota!"

"She'll be fine."

Impatient, Eri finally spoke up. "I've been ready to tell my story for a while now."

Trying to get comfortable in Shota's arms, Emi smiled at Eri saying, "All eyes are on you."

"Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Eri that only wished to happy. She was trapped in a big dungeon locked away from the world. She had no contact with the rest of the world, so she was very lonely. One day, she got out into the world but got captured again. One day, a group came to save her, and she got out. Eri became friends with some of the people who saved her, but she still felt empty inside. She was taken in by someone with a kind heart. He did everything he could to help the girl, but there was something still missing from both of their lives. Later someone came into their lives, and it made it better for them. Her caretaker found the love of his life and Eri got another person to care for her. The three of them became a family giving Eri a mom and a dad. They went on adventures and lived happily ever after. The end."

Clapping loudly, Emi shouted, "Bravo! Fantastic job reading! You're such a pro! You didn't need any help at all."

Scratching his stumble, Aizawa blunted out, "How much of it did Joke tell you to write in or did she just write the whole thing?"

Hands on her hips, Eri boldly stated, "It was all my idea! Ms. Emi only helped me with the spelling or phrasing."

"Eri, it's 7:30. Should you be getting ready for bed?" Asked Emi.

"Yeah, I'll go get ready." Running up to both Aizawa and Emi, she gave them both a kiss on the cheek before heading out of the room.

Looking at Emi, Shota questioned her. "What was up with all of that?"

"What are you asking?"

"Supper, the story, everything that you guys planned for tonight."

"Eri told me everything that she's done so far and cooking was something that she hadn't. I thought it would be nice to make a recipe from home for all of you. Then she wanted to something else and I said we could work on her writing. She suggested we would write a story and read it to you." Emi stated it plainly for him. She didn't see what the big problem was about what they did.

"Hmmm, are you expecting something in return?" Shota was still not convinced about the situation. He gripped Emi's face by her jaw bringing it towards his.

Breaking the ice, Emi picked on him. "No, but if wanted to do whatever it is you're planning, you can go ahead and do it."

Giving a wide grin, dropped his hands to Emi's sides and started tickling her. "Remember all of those times you've told horrible jokes? This is for making me suffer for all those times. ." She started laughing uncontrollably.

Knowing that she couldn't win, didn't fight or use her quirk. She knew that if she used her quirk, Shota could use his own to cancel hers out making the situation the same.

"You're not fighting back."

"I can't win."

"That's no way for a hero to talk."

Emi wrapped her arms around Shota pushing him off of her and onto the floor. Now on top of him, she wrapped her legs around his outer thighs. Bringing her face to his, she taunted him. "How's that for you." Getting up, she went to Eri's room to check on the small girl. "Want a bedtime story."

Tucked into bed already, Eri yawned while responding. "No, I'm okay. I'll let you and Mr. Aizawa do stuff now."

Making her way to Eri's bed, Emi gave Eri a goodnight kiss. "You know that I can read to you still and Aizawa can wait for me."

Eri continued to yawn. "I know, but I want Mr. Aizawa to like you as much as I do."

Walking to the door, Emi smiled at Eri's comment. "Goodnight, Eri." Closing the door, she went to find Shota. "You'll never guess what Eri just told me."

"What's that?"

Searching the kitchen and living room, Emi couldn't find Shota. "Where are you?"

"I'm in my room."

Wandering around the apartment, Emi slowly opened the door that she tried to stay out of the whole day. She found Shota getting ready for bed.

"What did Eri tell you."

Emi answered him, but couldn't help looking around at her surrounding."She said that she wanted you and me to spend time together instead of having a book read for her. You have nothing in here! It's too basic. You need some color or something to add some life."

Walking up to Emi, he smirked. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. It's so lifeless in here."

Picking her up, he tossed her onto his bed. Crawling towards her, he gently rubbed his body against hers as he made his way to her face. "Then I'll have to add you to it."

Emi winked as she taunted him."If only you could."

Not being able to control himself any longer, he pressed his lips against hers. Trying to be as gentle, but still passionate, he kissed her firmly. Rubbing his hands along her back and sides.

Returning the kiss, Emi felt like her whole world was on fire. It was too much for her to wrap her mind around that she was in Shota's bed kissing him and to think that this was their first kiss. She wanted this more than ever, but it didn't seem right. With everything she was dealing with, she needed this to slow down. Pushing herself away, she felt the heated passion between the two of them ended abruptly. There were tears forming in her eyes as she said,"I'm so sorry, but I don't want to rush this."

Wiping her tears away, Shota felt ashamed that he had rushed this between them. "No, I should be the one that's sorry. With everything you've been dealing with, I should not have forced myself upon you."

"I'm at fault just as much as you are. I want this so badly, but it just doesn't feel right." Her heart felt crushed; she had wanted this since the day she had met Shota. Maybe she could push herself to do this, but then what if she regretted this.

"Emi, it's all right. I'll never look at you differently just because you said you weren't comfortable with the situation. I would rather have you speak up then force yourself to go through something you're uncomfortable with. I would hate myself if I ever hurt you."

She could only bring herself to tears. Wrapping her arms around Shota, she cried quietly into his shirt. She was too overwhelmed to think anymore about what had just happened, so all she could do was let it out by having someone support her.

Holding her tightly in his arms, he continued to stroke her back and said, "It's going to be alright, Emi. Everything will be alright." Eventually, she fell asleep in his arms. Trying to adjust the two of them, he carefully moved her and tucked her in with him. "I'm sorry for hurting you, Emi." Wrapping his arms securely around her, he kissed her forehead before falling asleep.


	6. Let Me Be

Slightly opening his eyes, Shota checked his surroundings. In his arms, he held a delicate jade vine. He didn't know a lot about flowers, but he overheard Emi and Midnight talking about some flowers they wanted to see someday. Some of the flowers they mentioned were the opposite of the definition of beautiful, but the Jade Vine reminded him of Emi. Comparing her personality to the flower, they were both extremely unique. The flower's color and beauty resembled Emi perfectly. The Jade Fine is a light bluish-green color and is extremely difficult to find because it's endangered. He was harder to find than her more often, but he could say that he would never meet another person like Emi ever.  
Brushing her hair out of her face, he began studying it as the moonlight shone down on her. He caressed her soft, smooth face feeling each detail. Her skin was flawless making it seem as if she barely struggled with any skin conditions. Moving his focus to her eyes, he noticed how the outer part of her eyelids was wider than the central portion making her eyes appear to be larger. When her eyes opened, it felt like he was staring into a dark emerald.

Thinking back, he had never felt attracted to her. Why were there all these sudden thoughts going through his mind? Was it because Emi had told him what she meant all of those times when she hit on him or did he feel sorry for her because of her depression. Would he really swoop low enough to make her feel better until she didn't need him anymore. No, he wasn't heartless. If he did that to her, he believed that he didn't have a heart. Honestly, he would give her permission to make his life a living hell if he left her. Plus the fact that Eri adored Emi and was attached to her was a clear sign that she was a significant influence for the girl.

Waking up, Emi gave a warm smile. "Good morning, sunshine."

Shifting his weight to his elbow, he supported his head with his right hand so he could face Emi. "You're awake. Since when have I ever been called sunshine? I'm usually the grouchiest person in the room."

"How long have you been staring at me before I woke up?" She began to chuckle when Shota blushed at her comment.

Making up an excuse, Shota came up with the first that came into his head. "I was thinking about the future and just happened to be looking in your direction."

Rolling her eyes at him, she tossed over to the other side of the bed. "Whatever."

"Emi...I couldn't deal with myself if I ever hurt you." He struggled to find words as he spoke. Tightening his grip on his sheets, he couldn't relieve himself of the guilt of what transpired last night.

Shifting her body, she moved herself to face Shota. Staring into his eyes, they were full of confusion, remorse, and sympathy. She could tell by studying the expression of his eyes and face; he had mixed emotions. She felt horrid to think that he was blaming himself for what happened yesterday or that he thought he was walking on broken glass. "Shota, you are not responsible for me and what happens in it. Right now, I can say that you've made it better for me." Giving a small smile, she warmly stated, "I appreciate that you care about me and my wellbeing."

Fondling his fingers through her soft, voluminous hair, he read her face as she expressed her thoughts about the two of them. Even if she thought he wasn't responsible for her, he was responsible for his actions towards her. "I just want the best for you, and I want to be the one who can provide it for you." Briefly pausing, he thought through his concerns and if he wanted to share that with her. "Emi, I want you to know that I am not spending time with you just because of your depression. I enjoy the time we spend together. I'm not sure if it's because of what you disclosed with me, but I've noticed that I feel comfortable with you. Not that I don't dislike or hate who are when we see each other in public, but these last few weeks and days, you have seemed so much real. You're easier to talk to, willing to listen, very genuine. I know you have a certain character, personality, or vibe you bring to your fans and the world when you're out on the job or around other people. But I wish that I would have seen who the real Emi just being of a situation like this. I want to make sure that you feel comfortable with our relationship. I would hate to overstep any boundaries."

"If you overstepped yourself, I would have left you there and then." Considering her choices, Emi decided to be open with Shota. "What if I promise to be open with you about how I feel around you or in general, this way you'll know that I'm honest with you."

Overlooking the situation, he gave Emi a small peck on the forehead. "You don't have to go to that much effort for me. It's not fair to you."

Glaring into his eyes, she wanted him to have faith in their relationship, but it seemed as if his heart questioned it. "I want to do this for you and myself. I could never forgive myself for being given this chance and wasting it."

"Maybe that's just life telling us that it wasn't meant to be. We'll get over it sooner or later."

Starting to form tears in her eyes, she found it upsetting to hear Shota give up on what they hadn't spent much time on. He was giving up on their relationship, and he promised that he would be there to support her at any time. "We haven't even tried to keep this relationship. So how can you even say that?"

He was a coward. He was afraid of the truth, of reality, of how he could hurt or damage Emi more than she already was. Could he help her like he said he could? Would he be enough? He wasn't sure. Without looking at her, he whispered. "I feel like I can't be enough for you to rely on or support on."

Aggravated, Emi bluntly stated, "You don't get to decide whether or not you're enough for me. I decide that." Getting out of bed, she went into the bathroom to get ready for the day. Locking the door behind her, she took off her clothes and jumped into the shower.

Getting out of bed, Shota went into the kitchen and checked the time. It was five in the morning. He was about to go back to bed until he heard the shower turn on. "Emi, why do you have to be so stubborn?" Deciding to accommodate her, he turned on the stove to make some rice and green tea for breakfast. It was the least he could do considering their last conversation. As he got the tea and the rice on the stove, he thought over what Emi had last told him. She was right; it wasn't up to him to decide whether or not he was enough for her. Ultimately, it was her decision. All he could do was give her everything that he had. Devastated about what he had been contemplating earlier, Shota pledged that he would provide her with everything he could while making sure there was still enough time made for his students, Eri, and work.

"I'll leave since I probably overstayed my visit."

Turning around, he saw Emi dressed and ready to head out the door. Making his way over to her, he softly spoke. "Emi, I apologize if I made you feel uncomfortable. I made breakfast, rice, and tea."

"No, it would be better if I left." She made her way to the door when Shota grabbed her wrist. Stopping in her tracks, she tried pulling herself out from his grasp but failed. "Let me go, Shota."

"No, I want to make it up to you. I wronged you. It hurts me to see you so upset. You were right, and I promised to be there to help you and support you." Bringing his other hand to hold her face up, he made eye contact stating, "Emi, I vow to do everything I can to uphold and sustain you mentally and physically. I will never give up to you."

"You make it sound like we're married…" Trying to joke, but she began sobbing. From what Shota said a few days ago to earlier today to a few moments ago, her head was spinning. She couldn't handle it. She started to pound Shota's chest to get away, but it only his hold on her tighter. He moved his hands to her waist to support her weight and balance while she continued to hit him with her fists. Furious, she said with her teeth clenched. "Get off of me!"

"Emi, please. Don't do this."

"Who are you to tell me what to do!?"

Her knees become weak from being so overwhelmed. Shota picked her up bridal style to take her off of her feet. Remembering that the shove was on, he went on to turn it off quick, not caring about the quality of the tea or rice. He then went to the couch to sit down with her on his lap. Wiping away her tears, he pressed her head towards his shoulder. "Emi, forgive me. I promise you, I will be open with you from now and I will work as hard as I can with our relationship."

"Shota, I need some time to think."

"If you leave, you'll do nothing than overthink about it, and it'll hurt you more. I can't have that."

"Shota, let me go. I'll deal with it myself."

"Tell me you won't hurt yourself or tell yourself you're worthless then."

"..." Emi had nothing to say since it was probably true. Her trip home would end up with her degrading herself and who knows what she would do when she got home.

"Shit...Please stay here until later tonight since you have school. I don't want you to go home with the mindset you have right now. Honestly, right now I hate myself for hurting you so much."

"Fine."

"Thank you." Remembering that there was food on the stove, he rubbed the back of his head. "Want some rice and tea? I made it for you."

"Oh. I suppose so." She tried to get up from Shota's arms, but he wouldn't let her go. "Shota, I can't get any food if you're hanging on to me."

Letting go of Emi, he apologized. "I'm sorry. Let me get the food ready. You can wait at the table while I prepare everything. It shouldn't take too long." As he was getting ready, there was a loud knock at the door.

"SHO, WAKE UP! I HAVE SOMETHING I WANT TO TELL YOU! IT CAN'T WAIT."

Shota took a deep breath as he walked over to the door to open it. "What do you want Zashi?"

"WOW! THAT WAS FAST! I'M IMPRESSED THAT YOU GOT OUT OF BED SO QUICKLY!"

Irked, Shota was short. "Stop yelling."

Hizashi gave a nervous smile "Oh, sorry."

"What do you want, Hizashi?"

"Aren't you going to let me in first?"

Usually, Shota would have moved aside for Hizashi, but he didn't want to put Emi into an uncomfortable situation. "Can't you just tell me out here."

"No."

"Shota, just let him in. I don't mind. I can leave the room too if needed."

"Fine. Hizashi, you can come in. Emi, stay where you are. I don't want you leaving the room."

"That name sounds familiar…" As Hizashi walked into the apartment, he saw Emi sitting down at the kitchen table. "Wait, am I interrupting something?"

Returning to the stove, Shota turned on the tea again to warm it up. "Yes. But since you came in, tell me whatever you needed to tell me." Finding a pot holder, he set both the holder and the rice on the table.

"It's fine, Shota. If you don't mind Shota, he could join us for breakfast."

Waving his hands to tell them not to worry, Hizashi stated, "I ate already, but thanks."

Grumbling, Shota grabbed bowls and chopsticks for Emi and himself. "What did you need to tell me, Hizashi?"

Returning his attention on Shota, Hizashi thought through whether or not to tell him with Emi in the room. "Well, can we go somewhere else to talk?"

Setting the items on the table, Shota dug in his heels. "Can't we stay in here? I don't want to leave Emi in here by herself."

Grabbing some chopsticks and a bowl, Emi scooped rice into her bowl using her chopsticks. "Shota, you don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine."

"Or I guess I can tell you in the kitchen so you can technically be in the same room as each other. Don't know what that's about though."

"Fine. Now start."

"Pushy, aren't we."

"Shut it."

"Okay, okay. So, I found out more about Midoriya's case."

"What are you talking about?"

"His powers. I overheard Midoriya and All Might talking about it. I know it wasn't for my ears, but it all made sense the longer I stayed. And since you're Midoriya's advisor, I thought it would be best for you to understand what is happening to the boy."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Midoriya didn't develop those powers growing up. He got them from All Might that's why Toshinori is the way he is. Giving his powers to the boy made his powers leave his body. He used up all his energy when he fought All-for-One. The powers are something that's passed down, and it seems like Midoriya had just received his quirk or quirks a little before he got to UA."

"How did you manage to get this information?"

"Well, Midoriya and All Might were talking in some hallway that they thought was empty. I heard some voices and stopped to see if I could figure out whose they were. Once I knew who they were, I listened to find out what they were discussing. That's when I found out the history behind their powers. Supposedly, it's called One-for-All. It started with All-for-One, and he gave some of the quirks he stole to his brother. I'm not sure about how much more has to deal with All-for-One, but that's all they talked about at the time."

"Isn't there a story or tale about a guy who stole any quirk that he wanted? Could it be that it wasn't just a tall tale?"

"Now that you mention it, Shota. I do remember hearing a story about a guy like that. From what I could gather, it seems that Midoriya and All Might's mission is to defeat the holder of All-for-One. What I don't understand though is the fact that the guy Toshinori defeated was called All-for-One. So why are they still afraid of One-for-All when he's locked up?"

"I'm guessing just like how All Might passed down his powers to Midoriya, All-for-One l can pass down his powers to someone else. That's my theory."

"That makes sense. Do you think the new holder of All-for-One was there when All Might defeated the previous holder?"

"I don't know since we don't know the history or actual story behind this. I'm sure I can figure out something to get Modoriya or Toshinori to tell me."

"Okay, sounds good. By the way, why is Emi here?"

Snickering, Shota blunted out. "What's it to you."

Getting defensive, Hizashi quickly retorted. "I was just curious. Wondered if you and Emi were going to become a thing or not." Winking at Shota, he walked over to Emi to talk to her.

"Hey, Emi! How are you doing?"

"I could be better."

Appalled, Hizashi almost fell over. It was shocking to imagine that anything could be wrong with Emi. Thinking that he must have misheard her, he asked again. "Sorry. I don't think I heard you right. How did you say you were doing?"

Getting tired of people overlooking every time she was honest about her emotions, she walked up and went into Shota's bedroom closing the door behind her. If Hizashi wasn't going to listen and Shota wasn't going to let her leave, all she could do was sleep. She fell into bed and grabbed the covers to cover herself where she then cried herself to sleep.

Watching Emi walk away, Hizashi was surprised about what happened. "What was that about?"

"She's upset that you didn't believe her when she said she could be better."

"Why? She's always happy. I convinced myself that I must have imagined what was said originally!"

"Lately, she hasn't been."

Feeling guilty for what he said, Hizashi wanted to know what was going on with Emi. "Why? What happened!?"

"It's not for me to say, Hizashi. You'll have to earn Emi's trust for her to share that with you."

"Let me apologize before I leave then. So you can work your magic with her then."

"No. Don't apologize. Leave her alone. You'll probably make it worse even though you're trying to make it up. I'll let her know that you want to talk to her about what you said though."

Walking towards the door, Hizashi waved goodbye. "Ok. Thanks, Sho. I hope you can make her feel better with whatever she's dealing with." He then walked out the door and left Shota in the apartment by himself.

Looking at his watch, Shota noticed it was six in the morning. "I better check on Emi and see how she's doing." Walking to his room, he quietly opened to door to his room. It wasn't difficult to find Emi since he didn't have much in his room. "There you are. It looks like you fell asleep on me." Making his way to his bed, tried his best not to disturb Emi. Once he got to his bed, he got in and cuddled Emi into his arms. Looking down at her face, he noticed she had been crying. Wiping the tears away, he caressed her back and hair as he tried his best to stay awake for when she woke up. Failing, he made sure he didn't lose his grip on her as he drifted along with her.

Notes:

I may plan to read additional fanfics, but I'll continue to add to this one!

Chapter Management Edit Chapter

Chapter 7: Good-bye

Summary:

Wait, what do you want me to give up?

Notes:

Thank you for everyone who has been following this story, I have been blessed to have readers such as yourselves!  
Like always, I'd love to hear feedback or suggestions on what you think could be done with the story. If you have an idea, don't be afraid to share it!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Waking up, Emi found herself in Shota's arms. It felt nice to have someone embrace her as he did. Out of the five love languages, touch was one of her top two. The other one was quality time. Words of affirmation felt nice, but people could say anything that they didn't even mean. There was a saying, 'sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.' That was a lie — a big, fat one. Words fucking hurt and Emi couldn't deal with the idea of putting her trust into a relationship that meant nothing to the other person. From what she could tell, it sounded like Shota was sincere when they last spoke. Plus why did he come back here to embrace her in his arms? It was difficult for her to imagine that even though Shota said all of those things, he had his doubts.

"You're awake. I wanted to be awake myself for when you woke up, but you saw how that turned out." Giving a light chuckle, he caressed Emi's cheek. "I'm sorry that you had a rough morning. I promise that I won't ever do that to you again. I will be one hundred percent real with you even though that will be extremely difficult for me. I want you in my life, Emi."

Tears started to form in Emi's eyes. Boy, did she cry too much especially around Shota.

Trying to make light of what just happened, Shota gave a short laugh. "Emi, we'll have to make sure that you won't be crying after we figure out how to help you cope with your depression. All I want for you is to be happy. Which I'm sure you want for yourself as well. Please, Emi. I need you in my life."

Processing everything through, she tried to decide whether or not this was best for her. She would hate to hurt Shota or Eri, but would that even happen if everything went well?

FIVE MONTHS LATER

Recently, Emi had left her job at Ketsubustu Academy. She wanted to finish another year out with her students; Shota and Emi determined that it would be best for her to focus on herself before she started helping other people with their problems. When she broke the news to her students were devastated to see her leave, but they were all very understanding. No one knew that she was struggling with her mental health at Ketsubustu except for her principal, but the staff and workers were all super supportive.

In March, she had moved in with Shota after the school year had finished. Which meant she had to give up her apartment. It was a hard day to say goodbye to the school and the place she had been living during her time teaching there. That day, Shota, Hizashi, and Nezumi all came to help her move into Shota's apartment. Eri wanted to help, but there wasn't much she could do except take care of the cat. It was bizarre to think that Shota didn't have a cat especially knowing he was a hardcore cat person. Emi solved that problem since Shota agreed to let her cat stay with them.

A month later, she was doing better mentally since she didn't have anything to worry about except for hero duties specifically. She made it clear to everyone that she had to do something with her time now that she wasn't teaching. Otherwise, she spent most of her free time working out, hanging out with Shota and Eri mostly, Hizashi, or Nezumi. She tried dabbling in writing, knitting, and sewing, but it didn't help her cope with her stress like it uses to back when she was teaching. Emi made it clear to everyone that if they wanted to go out and try something new or there was a specific thing they enjoyed doing, she wanted to come and try it out. She was desperate to find any way to help her cope with her emotions.

Never having a serious relationship, it was challenging for Shota to make himself so vulnerable for Emi. Of course, she vulnerable for him as well, but the only people he had allowed himself to be open with was Hizashi, his brother, Seiji, or his parents. It was painful to watch his brother and himself drift apart because they lived utterly different lifestyles from each other. Seiji worked for the Japanese government as a lawyer which meant very long hours. After graduating from UA, Shota didn't spend a great deal of time with his parents. Instead, he wanted to become independent than being dependent on his parents. Occasionally, his parents or brother would message him to check up on how he was doing especially since Shota was horrible at contacting people.  
When Hizashi and Shota moved in together after a few years of living the hero life, Shota's family was thrilled. They approved of Hizashi the day they met him and to have him now in their son's life made life easier for them. It meant that Shouta would have to contact his family more often. Otherwise, he would be hearing about how Hizashi was apart of the family more than he was.

After the attack on UA and the downfall of Symbol of Peace, Hizashi and Shota moved onto the campus to assure the safety of the students. It now meant that they had separate apartments for themselves. Shota's living quarters were in apartment 1-A, and Hizashi lived in the staff apartments. At first, it was odd to be living separately from each other, but they grew used to the new living situations. It wasn't too soon after they had moved in that Shota had taken Eri in.

When Shota and Emi were deciding whether or not she should continue working at Ketsubustu, Shota came to Nezu to see what his opinion of having Emi move in with him. Plus it thought it might be possible for Emi to work behind the scenes of UA.

Getting up from his office, Shota searched his apartment to find Emi. She was in the kitchen making something as usual. After moving in, it was usual to find her at work in the kitchen making something up for Eri and Shota to enjoy. "Emi, Nezu would like to meet with you whenever you're available."

Still attending to whatever she was making, Emi replied, "Do you know what it's about?"

"No."

Chuckling to herself, Emi made light of the situation. "Shoot. Guess he found out about the secret life I've been living."

Scoffing at her little joke, Aizawa blunted out, "Yet, the whole staff of UA knows you're living here...what a secret life." He wasn't having it with her nonsense, so he walked back into his office to correct papers and do the rest of his work.

Taking a deep sigh, Emi quickly finished up cooking up what she was making for lunch. "Emi, you always screw it up. You're going to push him away one of these days." Since they first started their relationship, Shota shared with her that their relationship wasn't going to be like how it was that one day she spent the night over at his place. He was going to give it his all to support her and their relationship, but he had to dedicate a lot of his time to his students, his school work, hero work, and helping the country of Japan solve the case behind All-for-One. There would have been plenty of times she would have busted into his office pestering him with jokes or to spend time with her in general. However, her depression ate all her confidence to approach him when he was busy. She didn't want to seem needy or dependent, but the more she pushed herself away from Shota, the sooner he'd come to assure her of her self worth. It wasn't long before Hizashi, Nemuri, and Eri found out about her depression. They were all very supportive of her, and she bonded with Eri like Shota said they would. When Eri first heard that Emi struggled with a mental health condition like she was, she was speechless. That was the day that Emi taught Eri that no matter who the person was, anyone could struggle with any mental, or physical condition even if you couldn't see it.

Bringing herself back to reality, Emi finished preparing the curry and rice she was making. "Shota! Eri! I'm going to set the table for you! I'll be back after I get done talking to Nezu!" Waiting for a reply, Emi set the table for them like she said she would. There was nothing said back for at least five minutes before Emi decided to walk out the door. As she walked out, Emi messaged Shota that supper was out on the table ready for him and Eri and that she would be back after she talked to Nezu. Even though she messaged him, she felt remorseful about not letting Shota know that she was leaving by dropping by his office. Her heart told her that it would be better if she left him alone, you bother him enough already with your jokes and personality.

As Emi got closer to the school, she checked her phone for any messages or at least a reply from Shota. Nothing. Was she that annoying to Shota that he chose to ignore her repeatedly? No, he probably didn't hear her when she yelled was ready, and he was so busy that he hadn't checked his phone. That's it. It had to be. Even though it was hard to convince herself that was what happened, she couldn't handle the thoughts in her head that told her the opposite of that.

"Hello, Emi! What are you doing over here?"

Lost in thought, Emi continued making her way to the school.

"Wait, Emi! I want to talk to you!"

Snapping back to attention, Emi examined her surroundings.

"Down here, Emi!"

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Nezu!"

"Seems like I caught you at a bad time."

Waving her hands, she tried her best to gesture; it was not a problem. "Actually, I was looking for you. It seems I just got lost in my thoughts…"

Giving Emi a warm smile, Nezu continued walking to wherever it was that he was going. "Walk with me, Emi."

Startled, Emi jogged to catch up Nezu. "So...Shota said you wanted to talk with me."

"About that, we'll talk about it once we're behind closed doors. Let's talk about you though. How have you been doing with your transition?" Nezu kept his stare forward as they continued walking.

Lost for words...Emi had various thoughts swirling through her head at the same time. Why would Nezu like to know how she was doing? Did he know about her depression? Maybe that's the reason; he had let her moved in with Shota. "I'm doing okay."

"It's okay. To be honest, Emi. Not every day is going to be a good one. Anyway, how has your transition been? Shota hasn't said too much about the two of you except that you'd be moving in with him which meant that everyone would see you more often."

"Oh, it's been fine." Watching her surroundings, Emi noticed that they were walking toward the apartments for the staff members.

"Looks like we're here." Opening the door with his keycard, he held the door open for Emi. "My apartment is the first door on the left." The two of them continued making their way through the apartment when they finally made it to Nezu's door. Opening the door with his key, he headed for the kitchen. "Would you like any tea, Emi?"

"Sure." Looking around the apartment, Emi gathered that Nezu lived a very simple, but elegant lifestyle when he wasn't working. Everything was very tidy, but cozy at the same time. Looking around into his living room, she noticed he had a china cabinet full of Japanese dish sets and tea cups.

"You can take two teacups out of that china cabinet you're looking out. Just set them out on the coffee table and make yourself at home."

Setting the two cups and dishes accompanying them on the coffee table, Emi sat down on the couch. Once again, she checked her phone to see if she got a reply from Shota yet. Nothing. Looking at the time, she noticed that it had only been thirty minutes since she left the apartment.

Bringing the tea kettle and a pot holder to the coffee table, Nezu poured two cups of tea, taking on for himself and he sat down across from Emi. "Emi, I was sorry to be informed that you have been struggling with depression for a little more than a decade. If there is anything I can do for you, I will be more than happy to do so."

"Did Shota tell you?"

"Yes, he did. I'm the only one he told on the staff. I've learned that Hizashi and Nemuri know about your depression as well, but I haven't talked to them about it."

"Oh."

"I don't want it to seem that this is the only reason I wanted to talk to you. I had a favor of you to ask."

"What was that?"

"Would you be interested in doing some undercover hero work?"

"What do you mean undercover?"

"Well, you wouldn't be going on your regular patrols anymore as Ms. Joke. You'll be under a new name when you're out on the job."

"Like a spy?" Emi could no longer look Nezu in the eye. What was he thinking about putting her undercover when she was struggling with depression and her mental health. She wasn't sane enough to do the job and to get rid of Ms. Joke was out of the question. It was who she was...

"Typically, that's what uncover means, yes."

Gripping her pants to get rid of the pressure of the situation, Emi was unsure on how to decide. "I don't know. Can I think about it? Or find out as much as I can without deciding officially."

"You will have a few weeks to decide, but you can't let anyone know about this."

Still staring at the floor, Emi's voice cracked. "I don't understand. Why me out of all people?"

"You have more experience than a lot of the other heroes on the job. Now that you haven't been working out on patrol that often in one specific area, it'll make an easy to have you work undercover for the country of Japan."

"Wait, what? Did you say the country of Japan wants me working for them as a spy? Won't my depression turn them away?"

"No, you're depression shouldn't affect this. The government will want you to take a psychological exam, and they will make their plans accordingly."

"Will Ms. Joke still be a thing after I'm done with this?"

"Yes, but Ms. Joke will have to take a break for a while for this job. You'll be living under a new name as I said earlier and we can't have Ms. Joke getting involved primarily because the country of Japan doesn't want anyone to know that a hero is involved in this line of work.

"Am I the only hero doing this?"

"I can't answer that."

"I still don't understand why the country wants me working for them out of everyone else that could."

"They want a hero with experience and who can transition themselves accordingly to whatever the situation is. I've seen you on the job since you've moved here and it seems that you don't let your mental health affect you."

"No, I don't have time to think about my life when I'm working out as a hero."

"See, you'll be fine. Let me know whenever you have made a decision, and we'll act accordingly. Remember you can't let anyone know about this conversation, Emi. Not even Shota."

Bowing down to acknowledge what Nezu explained to her, she thought about how this would affect her life and relationship if she chooses this path. Getting up from her chair, she waved back at Nezu thanking him for his time and the tea that she didn't even touch. As she exited the apartment building, she ran back to apartment 1-A. She couldn't deal with not hearing from Shota. Why hadn't he messaged her yet? As Emi climbed up the stairs, she got greeted by Hizashi and Nemuri. They were both dressed casually. Nemuri was in a t-shirt, flannel, and jeans, while Hizashi was in a white t-shirt and sweats.

"Yo, Emi! Shota has been looking for you. By the way, that curry you made was to die for!"

"Yeah, he's been worried about where you'd gone for the last hour or so. He called the two of us wondering if we had seen you. Said he didn't receive any messages from you either. Then he invited us for supper hoping that you would eventually show up."

Dumbfounded, Emi was confused about the whole situation. Check her phone; she saw that her message hadn't sent like she thought it had. "I thought I messaged him, but I guess I didn't. I'll go talk to him now."

Reaching out for Emi's shoulder, Nemuri tried her best to comfort her. "Emi, are you doing okay? You seem off."

Brushing Nemuri's hand off her shoulder, Emi walked toward the apartment doors. "Yeah, I'm fine. I think it would be best for me to go and find Shota since he's worried about me for the last hour."

"Yo, Emi. If you ever need anything, don't be afraid to say something. You're not going to be a bother. We're here for you, Emi especially Shota. He's super worried about you, but that doesn't mean he's the only one you can go to."

Glancing back before she opened the door, Emi saw Nemuri and Hizashi standing exactly where they were when they first greeted her on her way back. "Will do." Opening the door, she entered to be welcomed by the 2-A students.

Eijiro shouted across the room. "Ms. Joke! What are you doing here? It seems that we've seen a lot more of you recently."

Rolling her eyes, Momo cut in. "Haven't you heard? Ms. Joke and Mr. Aizawa are dating now. So yeah she would be here more often! It's all over the news." Many of the students didn't know about their relationship and that it started before the end of their first year at UA.

Not knowing that Shota and her were all over the headlines caused a certain tension in her chest, but she wasn't able to think about it for long. Since she got bombarded with questions; Wanting to escape, she sprinted to Shota's apartment quickly shutting the door behind her.

"Where have you been, Emi? I've been looking all over for you."

"I went to talk to Nezu. I yelled that supper was ready, but it seems that you and Eri didn't hear me. After I waited for some time, I decided to leave. Originally, I thought you were the one not replying to me, but I guess my message didn't send."

Relieved that she didn't do anything she would regret, Shota intertwined his fingers into her hair. "Emi, you know that you could have come by my office to let me know that you were leaving and that you planned for Eri and me to eat by ourselves. I want you to know that even if you feel like you're bothering me, you're not. Yes, I may not spend a lot of time with you or Eri, but I love both of you."

Nodding her head in agreement, Emi turned her head slightly to look into Shota's eyes. "I love you, too."

Wrapping his other arm around her waist, Shota used the hand he had in Emi's hair to pull her head closer to him. Switching his attention from her eyes to her lips, he bit his lip as he moved in closer to her.

Not having time to put her arms around Shota's shoulders, she wrapped them around his waist pulling his body closer to hers. As Shota inched himself closer to her face, she pushed herself up to reach his lips by stepping on the tip of her toes. Finally reaching his lips, she pressed her lips firmly against his.

Tenderly returning the kiss, Shota noticed that Emi was standing on her toes. Leaning down as they continued embracing each other, he continued to check to see if Emi's feet were flat on the ground. Being impatient, he picked her up in reserve piggyback, so they continue kissing each other.

Breaking away slightly, Emi asked, "Shota, what are you doing?"

Walking towards his room, Shota glared into her eyes. "I want you, Emi." Pressing his lips against her lips to continue their kiss, he opened his bedroom door and only closing it behind him.

Breaking away again, Emi had thoughts running through her head. "Wait, what about Eri? Won't she hear us?"

Gently dropping her on their bed, Shota took off his shirt. "She left with Mirio after supper."  
Necking her as he took off her top, he lustfully said, "God, Emi. I need to have you. "

Emi didn't feel like having sex at the moment, but she didn't want to turn Shota off by saying no. Thinking it through, Emi decided he would appreciate it if she told him that she wasn't up for it. "Shota, I'm not in the mood tonight. I'm sorry."

Stopping himself, he stood up still facing Emi.

"I'm so sorry to kill the mood, but I can't bring myself to do that right now. I promise you that whenever I feel like it tomorrow hopefully, I'll let you know. Maybe we could start the day with some morning sex." She gave a wink to Shota.

Raising her chin with his hand, Shota gave her a look of understanding. "Emi, you don't have to force yourself to do something just because you don't want to. It's okay."

"No, it isn't. What are you going to do now that I said no?"

"I'll wait for whenever you're ready to do it another time. It's not a big deal. I would rather have you comfortable with the situation."

Burying her head into her hands, she felt horrible for saying no.

"Emi, it's better for a couple to both be enthusiastic about having sex together than not to have the enthusiasm unreturned."

He was right, but Emi still miserable for saying no. "What now?"

Getting on the bed himself, he motioned for Emi to sit beside him by the headrest. Watching her adjust herself on the bed as they sat, he brought up her meeting with Nezu. "So what did you and Nezu talk about?"

Startled, Emi continued to make herself comfortable without looking Shota in the eye. "It was fine. He made me tea, and we talked about my transition and how I was doing. Said he felt horrible that I had to struggle with depression and anxiety."

Putting his arms around Emi, Shota pulled her towards him. "Well, it sounds like it went well."

"Yeah, I meant Hizashi and Nemuri on my way back too. It sounds like you guys had a dinner party without me. Bummer, guess I should have curried up!" Laughing at her joke, she felt more like herself than she had in a long time.

"See you found your horrible sense of humor again."

"It was a sacrfrice I had to make for the two of us. Otherwise, we couldn't be living in constant laughter, Shota!"

"Oh my god. Emi, one joke was enough."

"Okay, okay. I'll stop with the blind jokes...since you don't see the point."

"That's it. Goodnight." Getting under the covers and putting his head down on the pillow, he turned the opposite way of Emi.

Checking her phone, she was disappointed to have Shota going to bed already. "It's only 7:45 in the evening."

"You stole the rest of the remaining energy I had for the night to function."

"Oh, well goodnight." Getting up from her bed, she looked around to see if Eri was back. Emi got out her phone to message Mirio that both Emi and Shota went to bed and that he was to call one of them to let them into the apartment. Walking into the bathroom, she got herself undressed to take a shower. Pampering herself, she took her time and to shaved for the pleasure of herself. As she got out, she dried herself and brushed her teeth as she let herself air dry.  
Suddenly, her phone started ringing. It had to be Mirio. Answering it, she was correct.

"Hey, Ms. Fukukado. I have Eri with me. She said she was tired. I'm sorry to bother you."

"It's fine, Mirio. I told you to call. Plus I haven't gotten into bed yet, so that worked out perfectly. I'll get it from you. Let me get situated first then I'll open the door for you two. Bye." Feeling a bit rushed, she quickly made her way into their bedroom and put on a large t-shirt and shorts. Running to the door, she welcomed Mirio and Eri in.

Rubbing her eyes as she walked in, Eri tiredly said. "Ms. Emi, I'm tired."

Kneeling, Emi smiled at the young girl. "Okay, get yourself ready for bed, and I'll tuck you in. Alright?" Standing back up, she acknowledged Mirio. "Thank you so much, Mirio! You have no idea how much Eri appreciates spending time with you."

"It's no problem. I'll let you get to bed. Goodnight, Ms. Fukukado."

"Goodnight." Closing the door, Emi quickly made her way to Eri's room. "Have you brushed your teeth yet?"

Changing her clothes, Eri replied. "Yes, Ms. Emi. All I have to do is get into my P.J.s."

"Alright, take your time."

It didn't take Eri too long to get into her pajamas and her bed. Tucking Eri in, Emi kissed her on the forehead, said goodnight, and closed the door as she walked out of the room. Grabbing her phone from the bathroom, Emi checked to see if she got any messages before going to bed herself. Nothing. Turning off the light in the bathroom, she was immediately stranded in darkness. Finding her way to Shota's room, she opened the door and closed it behind her as she came in. Looking at her phone, it was now 8:30 PM. It wasn't too bad; maybe she could get Shota to agree to go on a morning job with her in the morning. As she got into the bed, she hugged Shota from behind. Laying there, she could hear his steady breaths as she pressed her head against his back. The longer she listened, the more relax she got from counting his heartbeats. Counting his pulses was like counting sheep to her because every time she tried it, she ended up falling asleep.


	7. Good-bye

Waking up, Emi found herself in Shota's arms. It felt nice to have someone embrace her as he did. Out of the five love languages, touch was one of her top two. The other one was quality time. Words of affirmation felt nice, but people could say anything that they didn't even mean. There was a saying, 'sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.' That was a lie — a big, fat one. Words fucking hurt and Emi couldn't deal with the idea of putting her trust into a relationship that meant nothing to the other person. From what she could tell, it sounded like Shota was sincere when they last spoke. Plus why did he come back here to embrace her in his arms? It was difficult for her to imagine that even though Shota said all of those things, he had his doubts.

"You're awake. I wanted to be awake myself for when you woke up, but you saw how that turned out." Giving a light chuckle, he caressed Emi's cheek. "I'm sorry that you had a rough morning. I promise that I won't ever do that to you again. I will be one hundred percent real with you even though that will be extremely difficult for me. I want you in my life, Emi."

Tears started to form in Emi's eyes. Boy, did she cry too much especially around Shota.

Trying to make light of what just happened, Shota gave a short laugh. "Emi, we'll have to make sure that you won't be crying after we figure out how to help you cope with your depression. All I want for you is to be happy. Which I'm sure you want for yourself as well. Please, Emi. I need you in my life."

Processing everything through, she tried to decide whether or not this was best for her. She would hate to hurt Shota or Eri, but would that even happen if everything went well?

FIVE MONTHS LATER

Recently, Emi had left her job at Ketsubustu Academy. She wanted to finish another year out with her students; Shota and Emi determined that it would be best for her to focus on herself before she started helping other people with their problems. When she broke the news to her students were devastated to see her leave, but they were all very understanding. No one knew that she was struggling with her mental health at Ketsubustu except for her principal, but the staff and workers were all super supportive.

In March, she had moved in with Shota after the school year had finished. Which meant she had to give up her apartment. It was a hard day to say goodbye to the school and the place she had been living during her time teaching there. That day, Shota, Hizashi, and Nezumi all came to help her move into Shota's apartment. Eri wanted to help, but there wasn't much she could do except take care of the cat. It was bizarre to think that Shota didn't have a cat especially knowing he was a hardcore cat person. Emi solved that problem since Shota agreed to let her cat stay with them.

A month later, she was doing better mentally since she didn't have anything to worry about except for hero duties specifically. She made it clear to everyone that she had to do something with her time now that she wasn't teaching. Otherwise, she spent most of her free time working out, hanging out with Shota and Eri mostly, Hizashi, or Nezumi. She tried dabbling in writing, knitting, and sewing, but it didn't help her cope with her stress like it uses to back when she was teaching. Emi made it clear to everyone that if they wanted to go out and try something new or there was a specific thing they enjoyed doing, she wanted to come and try it out. She was desperate to find any way to help her cope with her emotions.

Never having a serious relationship, it was challenging for Shota to make himself so vulnerable for Emi. Of course, she vulnerable for him as well, but the only people he had allowed himself to be open with was Hizashi, his brother, Seiji, or his parents. It was painful to watch his brother and himself drift apart because they lived utterly different lifestyles from each other. Seiji worked for the Japanese government as a lawyer which meant very long hours. After graduating from UA, Shota didn't spend a great deal of time with his parents. Instead, he wanted to become independent than being dependent on his parents. Occasionally, his parents or brother would message him to check up on how he was doing especially since Shota was horrible at contacting people.  
When Hizashi and Shota moved in together after a few years of living the hero life, Shota's family was thrilled. They approved of Hizashi the day they met him and to have him now in their son's life made life easier for them. It meant that Shouta would have to contact his family more often. Otherwise, he would be hearing about how Hizashi was apart of the family more than he was.

After the attack on UA and the downfall of Symbol of Peace, Hizashi and Shota moved onto the campus to assure the safety of the students. It now meant that they had separate apartments for themselves. Shota's living quarters were in apartment 1-A, and Hizashi lived in the staff apartments. At first, it was odd to be living separately from each other, but they grew used to the new living situations. It wasn't too soon after they had moved in that Shota had taken Eri in.

When Shota and Emi were deciding whether or not she should continue working at Ketsubustu, Shota came to Nezu to see what his opinion of having Emi move in with him. Plus it thought it might be possible for Emi to work behind the scenes of UA.

Getting up from his office, Shota searched his apartment to find Emi. She was in the kitchen making something as usual. After moving in, it was usual to find her at work in the kitchen making something up for Eri and Shota to enjoy. "Emi, Nezu would like to meet with you whenever you're available."

Still attending to whatever she was making, Emi replied, "Do you know what it's about?"

"No."

Chuckling to herself, Emi made light of the situation. "Shoot. Guess he found out about the secret life I've been living."

Scoffing at her little joke, Aizawa blunted out, "Yet, the whole staff of UA knows you're living here...what a secret life." He wasn't having it with her nonsense, so he walked back into his office to correct papers and do the rest of his work.

Taking a deep sigh, Emi quickly finished up cooking up what she was making for lunch. "Emi, you always screw it up. You're going to push him away one of these days." Since they first started their relationship, Shota shared with her that their relationship wasn't going to be like how it was that one day she spent the night over at his place. He was going to give it his all to support her and their relationship, but he had to dedicate a lot of his time to his students, his school work, hero work, and helping the country of Japan solve the case behind All-for-One. There would have been plenty of times she would have busted into his office pestering him with jokes or to spend time with her in general. However, her depression ate all her confidence to approach him when he was busy. She didn't want to seem needy or dependent, but the more she pushed herself away from Shota, the sooner he'd come to assure her of her self worth. It wasn't long before Hizashi, Nemuri, and Eri found out about her depression. They were all very supportive of her, and she bonded with Eri like Shota said they would. When Eri first heard that Emi struggled with a mental health condition like she was, she was speechless. That was the day that Emi taught Eri that no matter who the person was, anyone could struggle with any mental, or physical condition even if you couldn't see it.

Bringing herself back to reality, Emi finished preparing the curry and rice she was making. "Shota! Eri! I'm going to set the table for you! I'll be back after I get done talking to Nezu!" Waiting for a reply, Emi set the table for them like she said she would. There was nothing said back for at least five minutes before Emi decided to walk out the door. As she walked out, Emi messaged Shota that supper was out on the table ready for him and Eri and that she would be back after she talked to Nezu. Even though she messaged him, she felt remorseful about not letting Shota know that she was leaving by dropping by his office. Her heart told her that it would be better if she left him alone, you bother him enough already with your jokes and personality.

As Emi got closer to the school, she checked her phone for any messages or at least a reply from Shota. Nothing. Was she that annoying to Shota that he chose to ignore her repeatedly? No, he probably didn't hear her when she yelled was ready, and he was so busy that he hadn't checked his phone. That's it. It had to be. Even though it was hard to convince herself that was what happened, she couldn't handle the thoughts in her head that told her the opposite of that.

"Hello, Emi! What are you doing over here?"

Lost in thought, Emi continued making her way to the school.

"Wait, Emi! I want to talk to you!"

Snapping back to attention, Emi examined her surroundings.

"Down here, Emi!"

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Nezu!"

"Seems like I caught you at a bad time."

Waving her hands, she tried her best to gesture; it was not a problem. "Actually, I was looking for you. It seems I just got lost in my thoughts…"

Giving Emi a warm smile, Nezu continued walking to wherever it was that he was going. "Walk with me, Emi."

Startled, Emi jogged to catch up Nezu. "So...Shota said you wanted to talk with me."

"About that, we'll talk about it once we're behind closed doors. Let's talk about you though. How have you been doing with your transition?" Nezu kept his stare forward as they continued walking.

Lost for words...Emi had various thoughts swirling through her head at the same time. Why would Nezu like to know how she was doing? Did he know about her depression? Maybe that's the reason; he had let her moved in with Shota. "I'm doing okay."

"It's okay. To be honest, Emi. Not every day is going to be a good one. Anyway, how has your transition been? Shota hasn't said too much about the two of you except that you'd be moving in with him which meant that everyone would see you more often."

"Oh, it's been fine." Watching her surroundings, Emi noticed that they were walking toward the apartments for the staff members.

"Looks like we're here." Opening the door with his keycard, he held the door open for Emi. "My apartment is the first door on the left." The two of them continued making their way through the apartment when they finally made it to Nezu's door. Opening the door with his key, he headed for the kitchen. "Would you like any tea, Emi?"

"Sure." Looking around the apartment, Emi gathered that Nezu lived a very simple, but elegant lifestyle when he wasn't working. Everything was very tidy, but cozy at the same time. Looking around into his living room, she noticed he had a china cabinet full of Japanese dish sets and tea cups.

"You can take two teacups out of that china cabinet you're looking out. Just set them out on the coffee table and make yourself at home."

Setting the two cups and dishes accompanying them on the coffee table, Emi sat down on the couch. Once again, she checked her phone to see if she got a reply from Shota yet. Nothing. Looking at the time, she noticed that it had only been thirty minutes since she left the apartment.

Bringing the tea kettle and a pot holder to the coffee table, Nezu poured two cups of tea, taking on for himself and he sat down across from Emi. "Emi, I was sorry to be informed that you have been struggling with depression for a little more than a decade. If there is anything I can do for you, I will be more than happy to do so."

"Did Shota tell you?"

"Yes, he did. I'm the only one he told on the staff. I've learned that Hizashi and Nemuri know about your depression as well, but I haven't talked to them about it."

"Oh."

"I don't want it to seem that this is the only reason I wanted to talk to you. I had a favor of you to ask."

"What was that?"

"Would you be interested in doing some undercover hero work?"

"What do you mean undercover?"

"Well, you wouldn't be going on your regular patrols anymore as Ms. Joke. You'll be under a new name when you're out on the job."

"Like a spy?" Emi could no longer look Nezu in the eye. What was he thinking about putting her undercover when she was struggling with depression and her mental health. She wasn't sane enough to do the job and to get rid of Ms. Joke was out of the question. It was who she was...

"Typically, that's what uncover means, yes."

Gripping her pants to get rid of the pressure of the situation, Emi was unsure on how to decide. "I don't know. Can I think about it? Or find out as much as I can without deciding officially."

"You will have a few weeks to decide, but you can't let anyone know about this."

Still staring at the floor, Emi's voice cracked. "I don't understand. Why me out of all people?"

"You have more experience than a lot of the other heroes on the job. Now that you haven't been working out on patrol that often in one specific area, it'll make an easy to have you work undercover for the country of Japan."

"Wait, what? Did you say the country of Japan wants me working for them as a spy? Won't my depression turn them away?"

"No, you're depression shouldn't affect this. The government will want you to take a psychological exam, and they will make their plans accordingly."

"Will Ms. Joke still be a thing after I'm done with this?"

"Yes, but Ms. Joke will have to take a break for a while for this job. You'll be living under a new name as I said earlier and we can't have Ms. Joke getting involved primarily because the country of Japan doesn't want anyone to know that a hero is involved in this line of work.

"Am I the only hero doing this?"

"I can't answer that."

"I still don't understand why the country wants me working for them out of everyone else that could."

"They want a hero with experience and who can transition themselves accordingly to whatever the situation is. I've seen you on the job since you've moved here and it seems that you don't let your mental health affect you."

"No, I don't have time to think about my life when I'm working out as a hero."

"See, you'll be fine. Let me know whenever you have made a decision, and we'll act accordingly. Remember you can't let anyone know about this conversation, Emi. Not even Shota."

Bowing down to acknowledge what Nezu explained to her, she thought about how this would affect her life and relationship if she chooses this path. Getting up from her chair, she waved back at Nezu thanking him for his time and the tea that she didn't even touch. As she exited the apartment building, she ran back to apartment 1-A. She couldn't deal with not hearing from Shota. Why hadn't he messaged her yet? As Emi climbed up the stairs, she got greeted by Hizashi and Nemuri. They were both dressed casually. Nemuri was in a t-shirt, flannel, and jeans, while Hizashi was in a white t-shirt and sweats.

"Yo, Emi! Shota has been looking for you. By the way, that curry you made was to die for!"

"Yeah, he's been worried about where you'd gone for the last hour or so. He called the two of us wondering if we had seen you. Said he didn't receive any messages from you either. Then he invited us for supper hoping that you would eventually show up."

Dumbfounded, Emi was confused about the whole situation. Check her phone; she saw that her message hadn't sent like she thought it had. "I thought I messaged him, but I guess I didn't. I'll go talk to him now."

Reaching out for Emi's shoulder, Nemuri tried her best to comfort her. "Emi, are you doing okay? You seem off."

Brushing Nemuri's hand off her shoulder, Emi walked toward the apartment doors. "Yeah, I'm fine. I think it would be best for me to go and find Shota since he's worried about me for the last hour."

"Yo, Emi. If you ever need anything, don't be afraid to say something. You're not going to be a bother. We're here for you, Emi especially Shota. He's super worried about you, but that doesn't mean he's the only one you can go to."

Glancing back before she opened the door, Emi saw Nemuri and Hizashi standing exactly where they were when they first greeted her on her way back. "Will do." Opening the door, she entered to be welcomed by the 2-A students.

Eijiro shouted across the room. "Ms. Joke! What are you doing here? It seems that we've seen a lot more of you recently."

Rolling her eyes, Momo cut in. "Haven't you heard? Ms. Joke and Mr. Aizawa are dating now. So yeah she would be here more often! It's all over the news." Many of the students didn't know about their relationship and that it started before the end of their first year at UA.

Not knowing that Shota and her were all over the headlines caused a certain tension in her chest, but she wasn't able to think about it for long. Since she got bombarded with questions; Wanting to escape, she sprinted to Shota's apartment quickly shutting the door behind her.

"Where have you been, Emi? I've been looking all over for you."

"I went to talk to Nezu. I yelled that supper was ready, but it seems that you and Eri didn't hear me. After I waited for some time, I decided to leave. Originally, I thought you were the one not replying to me, but I guess my message didn't send."

Relieved that she didn't do anything she would regret, Shota intertwined his fingers into her hair. "Emi, you know that you could have come by my office to let me know that you were leaving and that you planned for Eri and me to eat by ourselves. I want you to know that even if you feel like you're bothering me, you're not. Yes, I may not spend a lot of time with you or Eri, but I love both of you."

Nodding her head in agreement, Emi turned her head slightly to look into Shota's eyes. "I love you, too."

Wrapping his other arm around her waist, Shota used the hand he had in Emi's hair to pull her head closer to him. Switching his attention from her eyes to her lips, he bit his lip as he moved in closer to her.

Not having time to put her arms around Shota's shoulders, she wrapped them around his waist pulling his body closer to hers. As Shota inched himself closer to her face, she pushed herself up to reach his lips by stepping on the tip of her toes. Finally reaching his lips, she pressed her lips firmly against his.

Tenderly returning the kiss, Shota noticed that Emi was standing on her toes. Leaning down as they continued embracing each other, he continued to check to see if Emi's feet were flat on the ground. Being impatient, he picked her up in reserve piggyback, so they continue kissing each other.

Breaking away slightly, Emi asked, "Shota, what are you doing?"

Walking towards his room, Shota glared into her eyes. "I want you, Emi." Pressing his lips against her lips to continue their kiss, he opened his bedroom door and only closing it behind him.

Breaking away again, Emi had thoughts running through her head. "Wait, what about Eri? Won't she hear us?"

Gently dropping her on their bed, Shota took off his shirt. "She left with Mirio after supper."  
Necking her as he took off her top, he lustfully said, "God, Emi. I need to have you. "

Emi didn't feel like having sex at the moment, but she didn't want to turn Shota off by saying no. Thinking it through, Emi decided he would appreciate it if she told him that she wasn't up for it. "Shota, I'm not in the mood tonight. I'm sorry."

Stopping himself, he stood up still facing Emi.

"I'm so sorry to kill the mood, but I can't bring myself to do that right now. I promise you that whenever I feel like it tomorrow hopefully, I'll let you know. Maybe we could start the day with some morning sex." She gave a wink to Shota.

Raising her chin with his hand, Shota gave her a look of understanding. "Emi, you don't have to force yourself to do something just because you don't want to. It's okay."

"No, it isn't. What are you going to do now that I said no?"

"I'll wait for whenever you're ready to do it another time. It's not a big deal. I would rather have you comfortable with the situation."

Burying her head into her hands, she felt horrible for saying no.

"Emi, it's better for a couple to both be enthusiastic about having sex together than not to have the enthusiasm unreturned."

He was right, but Emi still miserable for saying no. "What now?"

Getting on the bed himself, he motioned for Emi to sit beside him by the headrest. Watching her adjust herself on the bed as they sat, he brought up her meeting with Nezu. "So what did you and Nezu talk about?"

Startled, Emi continued to make herself comfortable without looking Shota in the eye. "It was fine. He made me tea, and we talked about my transition and how I was doing. Said he felt horrible that I had to struggle with depression and anxiety."

Putting his arms around Emi, Shota pulled her towards him. "Well, it sounds like it went well."

"Yeah, I meant Hizashi and Nemuri on my way back too. It sounds like you guys had a dinner party without me. Bummer, guess I should have curried up!" Laughing at her joke, she felt more like herself than she had in a long time.

"See you found your horrible sense of humor again."

"It was a sacrfrice I had to make for the two of us. Otherwise, we couldn't be living in constant laughter, Shota!"

"Oh my god. Emi, one joke was enough."

"Okay, okay. I'll stop with the blind jokes...since you don't see the point."

"That's it. Goodnight." Getting under the covers and putting his head down on the pillow, he turned the opposite way of Emi.

Checking her phone, she was disappointed to have Shota going to bed already. "It's only 7:45 in the evening."

"You stole the rest of the remaining energy I had for the night to function."

"Oh, well goodnight." Getting up from her bed, she looked around to see if Eri was back. Emi got out her phone to message Mirio that both Emi and Shota went to bed and that he was to call one of them to let them into the apartment. Walking into the bathroom, she got herself undressed to take a shower. Pampering herself, she took her time and to shaved for the pleasure of herself. As she got out, she dried herself and brushed her teeth as she let herself air dry.  
Suddenly, her phone started ringing. It had to be Mirio. Answering it, she was correct.

"Hey, Ms. Fukukado. I have Eri with me. She said she was tired. I'm sorry to bother you."

"It's fine, Mirio. I told you to call. Plus I haven't gotten into bed yet, so that worked out perfectly. I'll get it from you. Let me get situated first then I'll open the door for you two. Bye." Feeling a bit rushed, she quickly made her way into their bedroom and put on a large t-shirt and shorts. Running to the door, she welcomed Mirio and Eri in.

Rubbing her eyes as she walked in, Eri tiredly said. "Ms. Emi, I'm tired."

Kneeling, Emi smiled at the young girl. "Okay, get yourself ready for bed, and I'll tuck you in. Alright?" Standing back up, she acknowledged Mirio. "Thank you so much, Mirio! You have no idea how much Eri appreciates spending time with you."

"It's no problem. I'll let you get to bed. Goodnight, Ms. Fukukado."

"Goodnight." Closing the door, Emi quickly made her way to Eri's room. "Have you brushed your teeth yet?"

Changing her clothes, Eri replied. "Yes, Ms. Emi. All I have to do is get into my P.J.s."

"Alright, take your time."

It didn't take Eri too long to get into her pajamas and her bed. Tucking Eri in, Emi kissed her on the forehead, said goodnight, and closed the door as she walked out of the room. Grabbing her phone from the bathroom, Emi checked to see if she got any messages before going to bed herself. Nothing. Turning off the light in the bathroom, she was immediately stranded in darkness. Finding her way to Shota's room, she opened the door and closed it behind her as she came in. Looking at her phone, it was now 8:30 PM. It wasn't too bad; maybe she could get Shota to agree to go on a morning job with her in the morning. As she got into the bed, she hugged Shota from behind. Laying there, she could hear his steady breaths as she pressed her head against his back. The longer she listened, the more relax she got from counting his heartbeats. Counting his pulses was like counting sheep to her because every time she tried it, she ended up falling asleep.


	8. Starting Over

TWO WEEKS LATER

Preparing Eri's randoseru (Japanese backpack for Elementary school children), Emi yelled down the hallway for her. "Eri, come on! We have to get you to school. It's your first day. We can't have you being late now, can we?"

Running from the bathroom, Eri reached out for her new backpack. "I'm coming! I had to brush my teeth first." Dressed in a white blouse, navy blue trousers, and beige trousers, the young girl opened the door while putting on her backpack on.

"Now slow down, Eri. You can't try to do multiple things at the same time."

Coming behind Eri, Emi helps her get on her backpack correctly. "Alright, let's make our way to the bus stop. Your school won't be too much farther once we get off at the third stop."

The two of them leave Yueei, get on the bus stop, and walk a few more blocks to Eri's new school. As they reach Eri's new school, they notice other students coming to school with their parents or guardians. Following the crowd, the two make their way to Eri's first-grade classroom where the teacher greeted her. "Hello, my name is Ms. Ando. You must be Eri! It's so great to meet you finally; I've heard so much about you already! When you enter the classroom, you will find multiple places where your name will be. The shelves on the wall are where you can put your jacket and book bag. We will sort the items in your backpack later. You'll find a desk with your name, too. "

Without overthinking about it, Eri bows down giving her new teacher respect. Quietly, Eri thanks her. "Thank you, Ms. Ando." After greeting her teacher, Eri enters the classroom with Emi and finds her desk and shelf.  
"Eri, would you like me to stay with you until you feel comfortable?"

"No, I should be okay."

Hugging Eri before she left the classroom, Emi watched as Eri ran to meet some of her new classmates. "Ms. Ando, please call me if anything happens with Eri."

"She's in good hands Ms. Fukukado, but I will call if we have any concerns."

Before Emi left, she bowed out of reverence. Heading back, Emi decided to walk the whole way back to think over her job offer. At that moment, she was on the fence about accepting the position. Were there enough pros or cons to make her choice either way. Maybe the change would help her to become more relaxed. Working as a spy for the country of Japan would be extremely stressful most likely. Passing a hair salon, Emi remembered that she hadn't gotten her hair trimmed in a while. Thinking that she could use that time for herself to think about her final decision, she went in.

A woman in her mid-thirties greeted Emi. She was wearing a blue blouse, yellow slacks, and mid-calf black boots. "Hello, miss. How can I help you?"

"I would like to get a trim, but before that, I might want to try something different with my hair now thinking about it."

"You could try a perm, hair extensions, highlights, or dying it."

Thinking about her offered position again, Emi answered, "I'll go with the trim and color."

"Sounds great! I can help you over at that chair over there." The lady was pointing to a station decorated with little cat figurines scattered all over with her tools hidden in the side drawers where they were easily accessible to her.

Emi followed the lady to the station and sat herself down in the chair. What would Shota think? What would anyone think? Wanting a change for a long time, she finally decided to go through with it. Guessing that fate put her there, she convinced herself that this change would work out fine. It was just hair after all. It could always grow back to her natural seafoam green color.

Grabbing some supplies from the cabinets, the lady made her way over to Emi and put the cutting cape around her neck. Leaning in, she asked, "Are you sure you want to dye and cut your hair? It's gorgeous."  
Nodding her head, she made a sure answer. "Yes, I'm sure."

As the lady got out the hair color wheel, she stated. "What color were you thinking of dying it."

Wondering if she should go dark or light, she thought about what color would match her skin tone the best. Contemplating about it, she decided on going dark brown. "I wanted to dye it dark brown."

"Are you sure?"

Nodding her head again, Emi decided there was no going back this time. "Yes."

The process took a very long time. First, the lady had to mix the dye, section the hair, apply it from bottom to top, sitting in a hair dryer, getting her hair washed from all the color, and getting it trimmed. It took about two hours for them to finish her hair.

When the lady was finally done, she asked. "How do you like it? Do you want me to do anything else? Trim up your bangs?"

"No, you don't have to do anything else. That'll be it. Thank you." Bowing down to show the woman gratitude, she got up to pay for her hair cut and color.

"That will be 16,200 yen, please."

Paying, Emi thanked the lady before she left by bowing. Leaving the shop, Emi looked at the time. It was 10:30. She had until three to get Eri from school. Walking back to UA, she went to find Nezu.

"Yo, miss. Do you have a visitor's pass with you?"

Ignoring Hizashi, she continued to walk down the hall down to Nezu's office.

Running after the woman, Hizashi reached out to grab her shoulder. "Excuse me; I would like to see a pass."

Sighing, Emi turned around.

Hizashi was stunned. Why would she do such a thing? Didn't she like her appearance before? "Emi? What did you do! Does Shota know about what you did?"

"No."

"Emi! He deserves to know!"

"I know."

"Why didn't you ask him on his opinion on changing your hair."

Overwhelmed, Emi fled.

"Emi, what is going on? You haven't been yourself lately…"

She hadn't been herself for a while. When was she going to return to normal? One could dream that everything was going to go back to how it was before, but in reality, it could never happen. Was her new look that big of a change? How many people would notice? Would this be the end of Ms. Joke?

Reaching Nezu's office door, she knocked and pushed the door open without waiting for an answer.

"Emi, hello. How are you?"

"I'm okay."

"Have you made a decision?"

"Yes, I'm going to do it."

"Oh, great! I wasn't sure if you would go through with it or not. It seemed like a 50/50 chance, but maybe lower. You'll be going on a few "business trips," in about a month after you finish training. I'll take you to the headquarters where you'll be going every day now when school is in session. Tell Shota that you're now running errands for the school especially for me. You'll be "my secretary." Each day, you'll go down to the headquarters and afterward, I'll send you on an errand to grab something for both your missions and myself. You'll bring that back, and if anyone is curious about your job, you'll have proof."

Nodding her head to acknowledge everything said, she heard the door creak open.

"Nezu, would you mind if I took the students off campus for classes next week?"

Looking behind her, she recognized him immediately. She had never met All Might during all her time here which was strange. It seemed almost like he was in hiding since no one except the staff or students would see him. What did he do with his free time, she wondered? How was he doing now that he was no longer the symbol of peace? Was he struggling with depression like her? She doubted it.

Apologizing almost right away, All Might was about to close the door. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt."

"It's fine, Ms. Fukukado and I had just finished talking. Emi, I'll need you to come back on Wednesday to my office to get a file. In it, you'll find everything you need."

"Tha…" Trying to show her gratitude to Nezu, Emi was interrupted by All Might.

"Wait, you're Emi? Ms. Joke, isn't it?"

"Yes."

Recalling what he had seen in photos and heard, All Might be utterly confused about how this was the same person. She sure didn't look like Ms. Joke. "I thought you had coral color hair or did it change with your quick or something?"

Laughing at how ridiculously confused he was, Emi answered, "My natural hair color is seafoam green, but I decided I would dye for a change."

"Oh." Being oblivious to the pun, he continued with another topic. "It's strange how I've never seen you around since you've been on campus more than once, but now you've been living here for a month. You would have thought that we would have run into each other sometime. Anyway, I don't know how much different Aizawa is with you, but everyone can tell there's been a difference in his behavior ever since he started dating you."

"For better or worse?" It sounded like she was starting her marriage vows already, and the couple wasn't even engaged yet.

"Better. From what I can tell, Shota seems happier now since the two of you became official. Sorry, Nezu. I couldn't miss this opportunity to meet Emi."

Understanding of the situation, Nezu dismissed the fact that he had to wait for Toshinoro to acknowledge him after meeting Emi finally. "It's fine. I'm glad to see you two have finally met each other."

"Well, I should go. Toshinoro, we should get coffee sometime." As she walked out and opened the door, she got a reply from him.

Startled, Toshinoro agreed to her offer. "Oh, yeah. That would be nice."

Smiling back at the two, Emi closed the door and went on a search to find Shota. Searching each corridor, Emi continued to wander the classroom building. It was lost trying to find Shota honestly, but she wanted to share with him what she had done. Instead of searching for him herself, she went into multiple rooms to find someone who could tell her where he was at the moment. "Excuse me, sir. Would you happen to know where Aizawa Shota is?"

"It's our lunch break. I'm guessing he is either sleeping or in the staffroom. Why?"

"Thank you so much!" Quickly bowing down, she ran out of the room to find Shota.

"Wait, who are you. Do you even have a visitor pass?" Running after her, he tried to stop her, but he failed after a long chase down the halls. He lost her.

"Okay, I looks like I lost him. Now, where is the staffroom, but that guy will probably be there waiting for me. Wait, why am I talking to myself?"

"Hey, I don't know who you are, but Kan has said that you ran off without saying who you were."

Recognizing the voice right away, she turned, sprinting to a lover to wrap her arms around him. "I've been looking for you all over the place!" Hugging him tighter, she felt like some of her troubles had gone away.

Yet, there was tension in her body. She was waiting to hear what he had to say about her change.

"Emi!? What the hell have you done with your hair! Please, tell me that's a wig."

Look up; she met eye contact with Shota. "No, it's not. I wanted a change."

Not convinced, he called her out. "Bullshit."

"Why can't you believe me?! I promise you all I wanted was a change in my appearance."

"Emi, you love your seafoam green hair. You took pride in it. Hell, it made you distinguishable from everyone else which you love."

"Maybe I don't want to blend in and be like everyone else finally. I'm tired of sticking out like a sore thumb. No one will have to take notice in me. I won't be a bother to them anymore." Holding back the tears, she turned her head to hide away her grief.

Sighing, Shota took her hands off of his body. Taking her left hand, he led her to his classroom. "I don't have class for another 30 minutes. I'll take you to my room, and we can talk about this."

"No, I just want to go back home and sleep."

"Emi, that won't do anything for you."

Trying to get out of his hold, she tugged as hard as she could. Escaping, she was soon taken captive again by his scarf.

"Emi, what the hell. You're acting ridiculous. The students don't need to see you like this. Please do us both a favor, and behave until we get to my classroom." Taking his scarf off her, he held onto her hand again as he led her to his room.

Unwilling, Emi followed him to his room. "Fine."

There were a few times, Aizawa got greeted in the hallway, but choosing to ignore them, he continued walking until he got to classroom 1-A.

Needing help, a few students from 1-A came to ask him, "Aizawa, we had a few questions on an assignment for class."

Choosing not to look to see who it was, he shooed them away and went into the classroom.

"That wasn't very nice. You could have helped them instead of avoiding the situation."

"I can always help them later, and this situation with the two of us is more important than questions at the moment." Pinching the bridge of his nose, Shota exhaled to think of how to evaluate the whole situation.  
Her voice began to get flat the more she talked. "I'm sorry. Why is this all my fault that I cut my hair shorter and dyed it. I wanted a change. I don't understand why you're making such a big deal about this…" Flustered, Emi looked away.

Tilting his head, Shota sighed. "Emi, what is going on? That is all I want to know and don't lie to me."

Agitated, Emi finally decided to look Shota in the eye to tell him exactly what she had been saying the whole time. "I've told you Shota; I wanted to do something different. Blending in with everyone else would make life easier if I wasn't noticed."

Turning his head sighing again, he replied. "So you let your depression take over?"

"Yes."

"Emi…" Grabbing her face, he stared into her eyes trying to read them for all the emotional hurt that she was going through. "I wish I could take away the pain for you. Why didn't you tell me you were so miserable?"

Easing her body into his, she hugged him with a loose grip. Returning her embrace, he tenderly rubbed her back making her relax.

"I didn't want to…" Struggling to talk, tears began to flow down her cheeks. "I didn't want to be a burden." All her life, Emi believed she was never enough. Her parents, her teachers, and even the people around her always acted as her actions would never amount to anything. Being verbally abused by her parents, her self-esteem suffered. Because of her past, she accepted that whoever she developed a relationship with, she would bring down with her.

Looking down, he held her chin up hoping she could realize by reading his face that he would always be supportive of her. "Emi, I understand that you have gone through a lot in your past, but I need you to trust that no matter what I will always be there for you. We both need you to be confident in your abilities." Noticing Emi relaxed some from his words, a small grin formed upon his face. "I promise you; I will do everything I can to support you through this. I love you so much, Emi." Moving his hand from her chin to the side of her head, he leaned in kissing her forehead.

Needing closure, Emi rose her head. "You're not upset with me?"

"It's your body; I can only suggest or share my opinion. Ultimately, you decide on what you do."

Briefly glaring down, Emi wanted to know what Shota thought. "So what do you think?"

"About your hair? It's fine, I suppose. I liked your natural color the best, but it's your decision on what you do."

Not exactly satisfied, Emi changed the topic. "So what were you going to do to me before you realized it was me?"

Recalling back, Shota sneered making Emi regret asking. "Why couldn't you tell them who you were? It's not that hard of a thing to do."

Lowing her eyebrows, she shamefully moved her head to the side. "I didn't want to deal with anyone, so instead of handling the problem, I ran. All I want is to be left alone, Shota."

Quickly understanding the situation, he empathized with her. "It's tough to deal with people, I know. It doesn't mean we can avoid all responsibility. Do you know how many times I wanted to withdraw myself from the media, or anyone in general? A lot, but I have to be responsible for my actions. Plus sometimes we can't always get what we want."

Speechless, Emi continued staring at the ground as Shota embraced her.

Caressing her cheek, Shota carefully pulled her into his chest. "I'm going to ask Hizashi to watch Eri after we get her from school."

Startled by his words, Emi's eyes widened. "You can't come with me to pick Eri up." In disbelief, she glared at the floor thinking about how maybe she misheard him."

"It's Eri's first day of school. You can't tell me that Eri wouldn't love to see both of us after school plus I want to see this school finally."

Having no way to change his mind, Emi agreed on both of them going to get Eri.

Checking his clock, he adjusted Emi to give her a quick peck on the cheek. "After we drop Eri off at Hizashi's, the rest of the night is for you and me."

As Emi continued to stare at the wall, she questioned him. "Don't you have work to do?"

Knowing he would hate himself later, Shota smirked at her comment. "I'll figure something out. Now go home and rest."

"Ok." Leaving Shota's grasp, Emi slowly drifted her hands down his arms as she left the room. Going back to their apartment, she heard her stomach grumble. Even though her emotions took away her desire to eat anything, she made a bowl of rice before taking a nap. Setting her alarm to 3:00 P.M., she took a quick shower to wash off all the grime that today brought already before she went to bed. After her shower, she jumped into bed without worrying about getting dressed. As she covered herself with the comforter, all of her problems had drifted away.

Woken up by her alarm, Emi dressed herself in a pair of yellow skinny jeans, a flowered blouse, a twisted gold chain choker, and white loafers. Tying her hair into a messy bun, she stepped out of the room to find her purse. Upon finding her purse, she left the apartment building and messaged Shota on where he wanted the two of them to meet up. Getting an instant reply, she met him at the bus stop where they got.

As they waited for their stop, Shota edged his hand towards hers lacing his fingers in between hers. When they reached their stop, Shota continued holding Emi's hand as they got off and made their way to Eri's school.

Having goosebumps form upon her skin from Shota's extra affection, Emi wondered why he was going out of his way to show her love and attention, especially in public. Seeing the school not far from them, Emi asked, "Shota, why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Giving me extra affection in public."

Stopping, but still holding her hand, he brought his free hand to her chin gently lifting her face to his. "Emi, I want you to know that you're worth the extra attention. You deserve to be loved and cared for, and if I can't do that for you, then I'm not worthy of having you." Maintaining eye contact with Emi, he stared at her with soft, tender eyes.

A soft smile merged on Emi's lips. "Thank you." Making herself taller as she stood on her tiptoes, she brought Shota's face closer to hers.

Reading her actions, Shota leaned in and gave her a small kiss. They then went on their way to get Eri from school. Getting onto the school grounds, they watched as students left by themselves without any guardian. Entering the building, Emi led the two of them to the school office.

Running to hug each of them, Eri ecstatically cried, "Ms. Emi! Aizawa! You came!"

Kneeling to hug the young girl, Emi comforted her. "Of course we did. You didn't think we would ever leave you right?"

Leaving Emi, Eri jumped into Shota's arms. "No, I'm happy both of you came."

Ruffling Eri's hair, Shota stated, "You're going to spend the night with Yamada. He'll be putting you to bed too. Don't worry, Emi or I will be putting you to bed like we usually do after tonight."

A bright smile spread across Eri's face; she enthusiastically skipped out of the office hinting that she wanted to get back now. Following the young girl, Emi and Shota interlocked their fingers together as they made their way back to UA.

Once they got back, Shota explained to Hizashi what his plan with Emi was tonight. Approving of his plans, Hizashi winked at the two of them when they left.

Making their way to the train station, Emi pressured Shota to tell them where they were going even though she knew it was pointless. Getting on the train, Shota securely grasped onto Emi's hand. It wasn't long until they had reached Nishi-Shinjuku. Leaving the train station, they passed a few local shops on the way, a bookstore, a game store, a camera shop. Where was he taking her? Turning right, he led her down a small street until they stopped at a small restaurant called Shinpachi Shokudo. Entering the restaurant, they sat at the bar counter.

Examining the room, Emi found the place to be quite quiet and simple. The bar table was made out of wood, the cooks and servers wore black banadas to keep their hair out of their face, and everything the cooks or servers needed was behind the countertop. The space was used efficiently well. Acknowledging Shota, she turned her head as she got handed a menu. "What is this place?"

Shota sat without glancing up from his menu. "A restaurant with very well made Japanese food. I come here to get away from the crowds."

Viewing her menu, Emi spoke as she studied it, "Yeah, so is this one of your getaway spots you're saying?"

Peering from his menu, Shota agreed with her. "Yeah, I suppose you could say that. There's never been a time where I have been disappointed by their food."

"Taking that into consideration, I guess I'll try something exotic."

Puzzled, Shota narrowed his eyes at her. "Emi, nothing is going to be exotic. It's Japanese food."

Knowing he was right, but still wanting to joke around, Emi picked on him. "Come on; I just wanted to have a little fun. One could at least imagine that they were out on an adventure trying new bizarre foods!"

Glaring at her, he motioned his hand up and down indicating that she should lower her voice.

Returning her attention to her menu, she chose something that she never had before. Putting both of their orders in, Shota reached across laying his hand on Emi's leg rubbing it back and forth with his thumb.

Taking everything in, Emi could feel her chest pounding from her anxiousness. Why was she so anxious? Could it be that she couldn't deal with finally receiving positive attention? All she wanted was to be loved and cared for and who else could give that to her other than the love of her life?

Emi was so deep in thought that she didn't notice that their food had come already. Waving his hand at her face, he repeated, "Emi. Emi. Hey, Emi. Emi, our food is here."

Waking up from her daydreaming, she drooped her eyes giving Shota an apologetic look for her lack of attention.

Curving the corners of his mouth into a smile, he decided to change the subject. "Hey, let's eat. I want to take you somewhere else tonight, so we can't spend all our time here. Even if that wouldn't be the worst thing for us to do."

Brightening up, she shot him a huge grin and dug into the food. After finishing their meals, they paid, thanked the staff and made their way to the train station. Stepping onto the train, Emi noticed that Shota seemed to be nervous for some reason even though his facial expression remained the same. As they held hands, his hand got a little clammy. Once they got to their stop, they took a ten-minute walk to a park.  
"What park is this?"

"Inokashira Park."

"Isn't that close to the Ghibli Museum?"

"Yeah, but we're not going anywhere near that."

Scanning the area, Emi had no clue on where Shota was taking them, she asked, "Where are we going?"

Smirking, Shota gave a short reply, "Patience."

Pushing his limits, Emi narrowed her eyes. Taunting him, she said, "But I'll be dead by that."

Rolling his eyes, Shota nudged her with their hands together. "Quit being so dramatic."

Continuing to walk for quite a ways, they finally stopped at a pond surrounded by cherry blossoms. Finding a comfortable spot underneath a tree, they sat nestling each other as they took in the reflection of the cherry blossoms and the sunset off of the pond. It was all too much to take in that tears filled up Emi's eyes.

Noticing shirt was wet, Shota looked over to see why Emi was so troubled. Swiping a tear from her eye, he soothingly said, "Love, what's wrong?"

"I've been so blessed with you and Eri…" Choking on her words, she uttered, "I don't understand why you think I deserve all of this. I love both of you so much, but I feel like you would be better off without me. My mind can't wrap around the idea of how you wanted. All my life I've struggled with being accepted and you have exceeded that, Shota. I don't know what I would ever do without you."

Giving a half smile, Shota reached into his pocket. Pulling out a black box, he shifted his weight to get down on one knee. "Emi, will marry me?"

Speechless, Emi's eyes flooded with tears.

As Shota watched her reaction, his body tensed up. Extending his hand towards Emi, she jumped into his arms making him lose his balance. Reacting quickly, he used his feet to grip the ground to remain from falling. Confused about what happened, he turned his head checking out how she was doing. "Emi, you didn't give me an answer."

Lifting her head from his shoulder, she lightly chuckled. Beaming a smile at him, tears shimmered in her eyes from crying earlier. "Yes."

With no expression on his face, he asked, "Yes?"

Running her hand through his hand, Emi tilted her head smiling. "Of course, I'll marry you."

Curving the corners of his mouth, Shota leaned in bringing himself only inches away from Emi's lips. "You've just made me the happiest man in the world." Threading his fingers through her hair, he pulled her in kissing her passionately. With each peck, Shota's hair follicles began standing up from the exhilaration. Breaking the kiss, the two nestled their noses together staring into each other's eyes they knew just how much cherished one another.

Remembering about the ring, Shota took Emi's hand. As he put it on, Emi's eyes widened. The ring was elegant but simple. Sitting in a leafy twisted band, an oval cut light blue sapphire sat in the center with four leaves caressing the heart of it. Lost for words, Emi wrapped her arms around his shoulders giving him a quick peck. "I love it."

Sitting there enjoying each other's presence for a little longer, they nuzzled close together. Deciding it was time to head back, the two took their time walking back to the train station holding hands. Making it on the train, Shota wrapped his arm around her waist bringing her closer to him. Even though Shota and Emi didn't talk much on their way back, they appreciated the time they could spend together knowing just how much they loved one another.

Once they got on campus, it was around 9 P.M. Entering the apartment building; students greeted them. As they made their way out of the commons, they walked into the apartment checking everything was in check.

Jumping off of the couch, Hizashi and Nemuri screamed. "Did you do it, Shota?"

Confused about what was going on, Emi asked. "Do what?"

Rushing to Emi, Nemuri grabbed Emi's hand checking for a ring. "He did it!"

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Shota uttered, "Please tell me you didn't tell the whole school, Hizashi?"

Confessing, Hizashi stated, "Well, I couldn't just tell everyone about it. Don't worry; I only told the staff about it."

Taking Emi by the hand, Shota took them to his bedroom. "I've had enough of this. Goodnight. You better be out in the next few seconds, or I'm going to throw you out myself."

As they walked out, Nemuri teased both of them. "You lovebirds better not have too much fun in there tonight." Winking before she left, Nemuri shut the door behind her.

Disregarding what Nemuri said, both of them got ready for bed and plopped themselves on the mattress. The two of them were too exhausted to do anything tonight. The only thing that mattered to them was the fact that they got to spend time with the one they loved.


	9. A New Life

TWO WEEKS LATER  
Preparing Eri's randoseru (Japanese backpack for Elementary school children), Emi yelled down the hallway for her. "Eri, come on! We have to get you to school. It's your first day. We can't have you being late now, can we?"  
Running from the bathroom, Eri reached out for her new backpack. "I'm coming! I had to brush my teeth first." Dressed in a white blouse, navy blue trousers, and beige trousers, the young girl opened the door while putting on her backpack on.  
"Now slow down, Eri. You can't try to do multiple things at the same time."  
Coming behind Eri, Emi helps her get on her backpack correctly. "Alright, let's make our way to the bus stop. Your school won't be too much farther once we get off at the third stop."  
The two of them leave Yueei, get on the bus stop, and walk a few more blocks to Eri's new school. As they reach Eri's new school, they notice other students coming to school with their parents or guardians. Following the crowd, the two make their way to Eri's first-grade classroom where the teacher greeted her. "Hello, my name is Ms. Ando. You must be Eri! It's so great to meet you finally; I've heard so much about you already! When you enter the classroom, you will find multiple places where your name will be. The shelves on the wall are where you can put your jacket and book bag. We will sort the items in your backpack later. You'll find a desk with your name, too. "  
Without overthinking about it, Eri bows down giving her new teacher respect. Quietly, Eri thanks her. "Thank you, Ms. Ando." After greeting her teacher, Eri enters the classroom with Emi and finds her desk and shelf.  
"Eri, would you like me to stay with you until you feel comfortable?"  
"No, I should be okay."  
Hugging Eri before she left the classroom, Emi watched as Eri ran to meet some of her new classmates. "Ms. Ando, please call me if anything happens with Eri."  
"She's in good hands Ms. Fukukado, but I will call if we have any concerns."  
Before Emi left, she bowed out of reverence. Heading back, Emi decided to walk the whole way back to think over her job offer. At that moment, she was on the fence about accepting the position. Were there enough pros or cons to make her choice either way. Maybe the change would help her to become more relaxed. Working as a spy for the country of Japan would be extremely stressful most likely. Passing a hair salon, Emi remembered that she hadn't gotten her hair trimmed in a while. Thinking that she could use that time for herself to think about her final decision, she went in.  
A woman in her mid-thirties greeted Emi. She was wearing a blue blouse, yellow slacks, and mid-calf black boots. "Hello, miss. How can I help you?"  
"I would like to get a trim, but before that, I might want to try something different with my hair now thinking about it."  
"You could try a perm, hair extensions, highlights, or dying it."  
Thinking about her offered position again, Emi answered, "I'll go with the trim and color."  
"Sounds great! I can help you over at that chair over there." The lady was pointing to a station decorated with little cat figurines scattered all over with her tools hidden in the side drawers where they were easily accessible to her.  
Emi followed the lady to the station and sat herself down in the chair. What would Shota think? What would anyone think? Wanting a change for a long time, she finally decided to go through with it. Guessing that fate put her there, she convinced herself that this change would work out fine. It was just hair after all. It could always grow back to her natural seafoam green color.  
Grabbing some supplies from the cabinets, the lady made her way over to Emi and put the cutting cape around her neck. Leaning in, she asked, "Are you sure you want to dye and cut your hair? It's gorgeous."  
Nodding her head, she made a sure answer. "Yes, I'm sure."  
As the lady got out the hair color wheel, she stated. "What color were you thinking of dying it."  
Wondering if she should go dark or light, she thought about what color would match her skin tone the best. Contemplating about it, she decided on going dark brown. "I wanted to dye it dark brown."  
"Are you sure?"  
Nodding her head again, Emi decided there was no going back this time. "Yes."  
The process took a very long time. First, the lady had to mix the dye, section the hair, apply it from bottom to top, sitting in a hair dryer, getting her hair washed from all the color, and getting it trimmed. It took about two hours for them to finish her hair.  
When the lady was finally done, she asked. "How do you like it? Do you want me to do anything else? Trim up your bangs?"  
"No, you don't have to do anything else. That'll be it. Thank you." Bowing down to show the woman gratitude, she got up to pay for her hair cut and color.  
"That will be 16,200 yen, please."  
Paying, Emi thanked the lady before she left by bowing. Leaving the shop, Emi looked at the time. It was 10:30. She had until three to get Eri from school. Walking back to UA, she went to find Nezu.  
"Yo, miss. Do you have a visitor's pass with you?"  
Ignoring Hizashi, she continued to walk down the hall down to Nezu's office.  
Running after the woman, Hizashi reached out to grab her shoulder. "Excuse me; I would like to see a pass."  
Sighing, Emi turned around.  
Hizashi was stunned. Why would she do such a thing? Didn't she like her appearance before? "Emi? What did you do! Does Shota know about what you did?"  
"No."  
"Emi! He deserves to know!"  
"I know."  
"Why didn't you ask him on his opinion on changing your hair."  
Overwhelmed, Emi fled.  
"Emi, what is going on? You haven't been yourself lately…"  
She hadn't been herself for a while. When was she going to return to normal? One could dream that everything was going to go back to how it was before, but in reality, it could never happen. Was her new look that big of a change? How many people would notice? Would this be the end of Ms. Joke?  
Reaching Nezu's office door, she knocked and pushed the door open without waiting for an answer.  
"Emi, hello. How are you?"  
"I'm okay."  
"Have you made a decision?"  
"Yes, I'm going to do it."  
"Oh, great! I wasn't sure if you would go through with it or not. It seemed like a 50/50 chance, but maybe lower. You'll be going on a few "business trips," in about a month after you finish training. I'll take you to the headquarters where you'll be going every day now when school is in session. Tell Shota that you're now running errands for the school especially for me. You'll be "my secretary." Each day, you'll go down to the headquarters and afterward, I'll send you on an errand to grab something for both your missions and myself. You'll bring that back, and if anyone is curious about your job, you'll have proof."  
Nodding her head to acknowledge everything said, she heard the door creak open.  
"Nezu, would you mind if I took the students off campus for classes next week?"  
Looking behind her, she recognized him immediately. She had never met All Might during all her time here which was strange. It seemed almost like he was in hiding since no one except the staff or students would see him. What did he do with his free time, she wondered? How was he doing now that he was no longer the symbol of peace? Was he struggling with depression like her? She doubted it.  
Apologizing almost right away, All Might was about to close the door. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt."  
"It's fine, Ms. Fukukado and I had just finished talking. Emi, I'll need you to come back on Wednesday to my office to get a file. In it, you'll find everything you need."  
"Tha…" Trying to show her gratitude to Nezu, Emi was interrupted by All Might.  
"Wait, you're Emi? Ms. Joke, isn't it?"  
"Yes."  
Recalling what he had seen in photos and heard, All Might be utterly confused about how this was the same person. She sure didn't look like Ms. Joke. "I thought you had coral color hair or did it change with your quick or something?"  
Laughing at how ridiculously confused he was, Emi answered, "My natural hair color is seafoam green, but I decided I would dye for a change."  
"Oh." Being oblivious to the pun, he continued with another topic. "It's strange how I've never seen you around since you've been on campus more than once, but now you've been living here for a month. You would have thought that we would have run into each other sometime. Anyway, I don't know how much different Aizawa is with you, but everyone can tell there's been a difference in his behavior ever since he started dating you."  
"For better or worse?" It sounded like she was starting her marriage vows already, and the couple wasn't even engaged yet.  
"Better. From what I can tell, Shota seems happier now since the two of you became official. Sorry, Nezu. I couldn't miss this opportunity to meet Emi."  
Understanding of the situation, Nezu dismissed the fact that he had to wait for Toshinoro to acknowledge him after meeting Emi finally. "It's fine. I'm glad to see you two have finally met each other."  
"Well, I should go. Toshinoro, we should get coffee sometime." As she walked out and opened the door, she got a reply from him.  
Startled, Toshinoro agreed to her offer. "Oh, yeah. That would be nice."  
Smiling back at the two, Emi closed the door and went on a search to find Shota. Searching each corridor, Emi continued to wander the classroom building. It was lost trying to find Shota honestly, but she wanted to share with him what she had done. Instead of searching for him herself, she went into multiple rooms to find someone who could tell her where he was at the moment. "Excuse me, sir. Would you happen to know where Aizawa Shota is?"  
"It's our lunch break. I'm guessing he is either sleeping or in the staffroom. Why?"  
"Thank you so much!" Quickly bowing down, she ran out of the room to find Shota.  
"Wait, who are you. Do you even have a visitor pass?" Running after her, he tried to stop her, but he failed after a long chase down the halls. He lost her.  
"Okay, I looks like I lost him. Now, where is the staffroom, but that guy will probably be there waiting for me. Wait, why am I talking to myself?"  
"Hey, I don't know who you are, but Kan has said that you ran off without saying who you were."  
Recognizing the voice right away, she turned, sprinting to a lover to wrap her arms around him. "I've been looking for you all over the place!" Hugging him tighter, she felt like some of her troubles had gone away. Yet, there was tension in her body. She was waiting to hear what he had to say about her change.  
"Emi!? What the hell have you done with your hair! Please, tell me that's a wig."  
Look up; she met eye contact with Shota. "No, it's not. I wanted a change."  
Not convinced, he called her out. "Bullshit."  
"Why can't you believe me?! I promise you all I wanted was a change in my appearance."  
"Emi, you love your seafoam green hair. You took pride in it. Hell, it made you distinguishable from everyone else which you love."  
"Maybe I don't want to blend in and be like everyone else finally. I'm tired of sticking out like a sore thumb. No one will have to take notice in me. I won't be a bother to them anymore." Holding back the tears, she turned her head to hide away her grief.  
Sighing, Shota took her hands off of his body. Taking her left hand, he led her to his classroom. "I don't have class for another 30 minutes. I'll take you to my room, and we can talk about this."  
"No, I just want to go back home and sleep."  
"Emi, that won't do anything for you."  
Trying to get out of his hold, she tugged as hard as she could. Escaping, she was soon taken captive again by his scarf.  
"Emi, what the hell. You're acting ridiculous. The students don't need to see you like this. Please do us both a favor, and behave until we get to my classroom." Taking his scarf off her, he held onto her hand again as he led her to his room.  
Unwilling, Emi followed him to his room. "Fine."  
There were a few times, Aizawa got greeted in the hallway, but choosing to ignore them, he continued walking until he got to classroom 1-A.  
Needing help, a few students from 1-A came to ask him, "Aizawa, we had a few questions on an assignment for class."  
Choosing not to look to see who it was, he shooed them away and went into the classroom.  
"That wasn't very nice. You could have helped them instead of avoiding the situation."  
"I can always help them later, and this situation with the two of us is more important than questions at the moment." Pinching the bridge of his nose, Shota exhaled to think of how to evaluate the whole situation.  
Her voice began to get flat the more she talked. "I'm sorry. Why is this all my fault that I cut my hair shorter and dyed it. I wanted a change. I don't understand why you're making such a big deal about this…" Flustered, Emi looked away.  
Tilting his head, Shota sighed. "Emi, what is going on? That is all I want to know and don't lie to me."  
Agitated, Emi finally decided to look Shota in the eye to tell him exactly what she had been saying the whole time. "I've told you Shota; I wanted to do something different. Blending in with everyone else would make life easier if I wasn't noticed."  
Turning his head sighing again, he replied. "So you let your depression take over?"  
"Yes."  
"Emi…" Grabbing her face, he stared into her eyes trying to read them for all the emotional hurt that she was going through. "I wish I could take away the pain for you. Why didn't you tell me you were so miserable?"  
Easing her body into his, she hugged him with a loose grip. Returning her embrace, he tenderly rubbed her back making her relax.  
"I didn't want to…" Struggling to talk, tears began to flow down her cheeks. "I didn't want to be a burden." All her life, Emi believed she was never enough. Her parents, her teachers, and even the people around her always acted as her actions would never amount to anything. Being verbally abused by her parents, her self-esteem suffered. Because of her past, she accepted that whoever she developed a relationship with, she would bring down with her.  
Looking down, he held her chin up hoping she could realize by reading his face that he would always be supportive of her. "Emi, I understand that you have gone through a lot in your past, but I need you to trust that no matter what I will always be there for you. We both need you to be confident in your abilities." Noticing Emi relaxed some from his words, a small grin formed upon his face. "I promise you; I will do everything I can to support you through this. I love you so much, Emi." Moving his hand from her chin to the side of her head, he leaned in kissing her forehead.  
Needing closure, Emi rose her head. "You're not upset with me?"  
"It's your body; I can only suggest or share my opinion. Ultimately, you decide on what you do."  
Briefly glaring down, Emi wanted to know what Shota thought. "So what do you think?"  
"About your hair? It's fine, I suppose. I liked your natural color the best, but it's your decision on what you do."  
Not exactly satisfied, Emi changed the topic. "So what were you going to do to me before you realized it was me?"  
Recalling back, Shota sneered making Emi regret asking. "Why couldn't you tell them who you were? It's not that hard of a thing to do."  
Lowing her eyebrows, she shamefully moved her head to the side. "I didn't want to deal with anyone, so instead of handling the problem, I ran. All I want is to be left alone, Shota."  
Quickly understanding the situation, he empathized with her. "It's tough to deal with people, I know. It doesn't mean we can avoid all responsibility. Do you know how many times I wanted to withdraw myself from the media, or anyone in general? A lot, but I have to be responsible for my actions. Plus sometimes we can't always get what we want."  
Speechless, Emi continued staring at the ground as Shota embraced her.  
Caressing her cheek, Shota carefully pulled her into his chest. "I'm going to ask Hizashi to watch Eri after we get her from school."  
Startled by his words, Emi's eyes widened. "You can't come with me to pick Eri up." In disbelief, she glared at the floor thinking about how maybe she misheard him."  
"It's Eri's first day of school. You can't tell me that Eri wouldn't love to see both of us after school plus I want to see this school finally."  
Having no way to change his mind, Emi agreed on both of them going to get Eri.  
Checking his clock, he adjusted Emi to give her a quick peck on the cheek. "After we drop Eri off at Hizashi's, the rest of the night is for you and me."  
As Emi continued to stare at the wall, she questioned him. "Don't you have work to do?"  
Knowing he would hate himself later, Shota smirked at her comment. "I'll figure something out. Now go home and rest."  
"Ok." Leaving Shota's grasp, Emi slowly drifted her hands down his arms as she left the room. Going back to their apartment, she heard her stomach grumble. Even though her emotions took away her desire to eat anything, she made a bowl of rice before taking a nap. Setting her alarm to 3:00 P.M., she took a quick shower to wash off all the grime that today brought already before she went to bed. After her shower, she jumped into bed without worrying about getting dressed. As she covered herself with the comforter, all of her problems had drifted away.  
Woken up by her alarm, Emi dressed herself in a pair of yellow skinny jeans, a flowered blouse, a twisted gold chain choker, and white loafers. Tying her hair into a messy bun, she stepped out of the room to find her purse. Upon finding her purse, she left the apartment building and messaged Shota on where he wanted the two of them to meet up. Getting an instant reply, she met him at the bus stop where they got.  
As they waited for their stop, Shota edged his hand towards hers lacing his fingers in between hers. When they reached their stop, Shota continued holding Emi's hand as they got off and made their way to Eri's school.  
Having goosebumps form upon her skin from Shota's extra affection, Emi wondered why he was going out of his way to show her love and attention, especially in public. Seeing the school not far from them, Emi asked, "Shota, why are you doing this?"  
"Doing what?"  
"Giving me extra affection in public."  
Stopping, but still holding her hand, he brought his free hand to her chin gently lifting her face to his. "Emi, I want you to know that you're worth the extra attention. You deserve to be loved and cared for, and if I can't do that for you, then I'm not worthy of having you." Maintaining eye contact with Emi, he stared at her with soft, tender eyes.  
A soft smile merged on Emi's lips. "Thank you." Making herself taller as she stood on her tiptoes, she brought Shota's face closer to hers.  
Reading her actions, Shota leaned in and gave her a small kiss. They then went on their way to get Eri from school. Getting onto the school grounds, they watched as students left by themselves without any guardian. Entering the building, Emi led the two of them to the school office.  
Running to hug each of them, Eri ecstatically cried, "Ms. Emi! Aizawa! You came!"  
Kneeling to hug the young girl, Emi comforted her. "Of course we did. You didn't think we would ever leave you right?"  
Leaving Emi, Eri jumped into Shota's arms. "No, I'm happy both of you came."  
Ruffling Eri's hair, Shota stated, "You're going to spend the night with Yamada. He'll be putting you to bed too. Don't worry, Emi or I will be putting you to bed like we usually do after tonight."  
A bright smile spread across Eri's face; she enthusiastically skipped out of the office hinting that she wanted to get back now. Following the young girl, Emi and Shota interlocked their fingers together as they made their way back to UA.  
Once they got back, Shota explained to Hizashi what his plan with Emi was tonight. Approving of his plans, Hizashi winked at the two of them when they left.  
Making their way to the train station, Emi pressured Shota to tell them where they were going even though she knew it was pointless. Getting on the train, Shota securely grasped onto Emi's hand. It wasn't long until they had reached Nishi-Shinjuku. Leaving the train station, they passed a few local shops on the way, a bookstore, a game store, a camera shop. Where was he taking her? Turning right, he led her down a small street until they stopped at a small restaurant called Shinpachi Shokudo. Entering the restaurant, they sat at the bar counter.  
Examining the room, Emi found the place to be quite quiet and simple. The bar table was made out of wood, the cooks and servers wore black banadas to keep their hair out of their face, and everything the cooks or servers needed was behind the countertop. The space was used efficiently well. Acknowledging Shota, she turned her head as she got handed a menu. "What is this place?"  
Shota sat without glancing up from his menu. "A restaurant with very well made Japanese food. I come here to get away from the crowds."  
Viewing her menu, Emi spoke as she studied it, "Yeah, so is this one of your getaway spots you're saying?"  
Peering from his menu, Shota agreed with her. "Yeah, I suppose you could say that. There's never been a time where I have been disappointed by their food."  
"Taking that into consideration, I guess I'll try something exotic."  
Puzzled, Shota narrowed his eyes at her. "Emi, nothing is going to be exotic. It's Japanese food."  
Knowing he was right, but still wanting to joke around, Emi picked on him. "Come on; I just wanted to have a little fun. One could at least imagine that they were out on an adventure trying new bizarre foods!"  
Glaring at her, he motioned his hand up and down indicating that she should lower her voice.  
Returning her attention to her menu, she chose something that she never had before. Putting both of their orders in, Shota reached across laying his hand on Emi's leg rubbing it back and forth with his thumb. Taking everything in, Emi could feel her chest pounding from her anxiousness. Why was she so anxious? Could it be that she couldn't deal with finally receiving positive attention? All she wanted was to be loved and cared for and who else could give that to her other than the love of her life?  
Emi was so deep in thought that she didn't notice that their food had come already. Waving his hand at her face, he repeated, "Emi. Emi. Hey, Emi. Emi, our food is here."  
Waking up from her daydreaming, she drooped her eyes giving Shota an apologetic look for her lack of attention.  
Curving the corners of his mouth into a smile, he decided to change the subject. "Hey, let's eat. I want to take you somewhere else tonight, so we can't spend all our time here. Even if that wouldn't be the worst thing for us to do."  
Brightening up, she shot him a huge grin and dug into the food. After finishing their meals, they paid, thanked the staff and made their way to the train station. Stepping onto the train, Emi noticed that Shota seemed to be nervous for some reason even though his facial expression remained the same. As they held hands, his hand got a little clammy. Once they got to their stop, they took a ten-minute walk to a park.  
"What park is this?"  
"Inokashira Park."  
"Isn't that close to the Ghibli Museum?"  
"Yeah, but we're not going anywhere near that."  
Scanning the area, Emi had no clue on where Shota was taking them, she asked, "Where are we going?"  
Smirking, Shota gave a short reply, "Patience."  
Pushing his limits, Emi narrowed her eyes. Taunting him, she said, "But I'll be dead by that."  
Rolling his eyes, Shota nudged her with their hands together. "Quit being so dramatic."  
Continuing to walk for quite a ways, they finally stopped at a pond surrounded by cherry blossoms. Finding a comfortable spot underneath a tree, they sat nestling each other as they took in the reflection of the cherry blossoms and the sunset off of the pond. It was all too much to take in that tears filled up Emi's eyes.  
Noticing shirt was wet, Shota looked over to see why Emi was so troubled. Swiping a tear from her eye, he soothingly said, "Love, what's wrong?"  
"I've been so blessed with you and Eri…" Choking on her words, she uttered, "I don't understand why you think I deserve all of this. I love both of you so much, but I feel like you would be better off without me. My mind can't wrap around the idea of how you wanted. All my life I've struggled with being accepted and you have exceeded that, Shota. I don't know what I would ever do without you."  
Giving a half smile, Shota reached into his pocket. Pulling out a black box, he shifted his weight to get down on one knee. "Emi, will marry me?"  
Speechless, Emi's eyes flooded with tears.  
As Shota watched her reaction, his body tensed up. Extending his hand towards Emi, she jumped into his arms making him lose his balance. Reacting quickly, he used his feet to grip the ground to remain from falling. Confused about what happened, he turned his head checking out how she was doing. "Emi, you didn't give me an answer."  
Lifting her head from his shoulder, she lightly chuckled. Beaming a smile at him, tears shimmered in her eyes from crying earlier. "Yes."  
With no expression on his face, he asked, "Yes?"  
Running her hand through his hand, Emi tilted her head smiling. "Of course, I'll marry you."  
Curving the corners of his mouth, Shota leaned in bringing himself only inches away from Emi's lips. "You've just made me the happiest man in the world." Threading his fingers through her hair, he pulled her in kissing her passionately. With each peck, Shota's hair follicles began standing up from the exhilaration. Breaking the kiss, the two nestled their noses together staring into each other's eyes they knew just how much cherished one another.  
Remembering about the ring, Shota took Emi's hand. As he put it on, Emi's eyes widened. The ring was elegant but simple. Sitting in a leafy twisted band, an oval cut light blue sapphire sat in the center with four leaves caressing the heart of it. Lost for words, Emi wrapped her arms around his shoulders giving him a quick peck. "I love it."  
Sitting there enjoying each other's presence for a little longer, they nuzzled close together. Deciding it was time to head back, the two took their time walking back to the train station holding hands. Making it on the train, Shota wrapped his arm around her waist bringing her closer to him. Even though Shota and Emi didn't talk much on their way back, they appreciated the time they could spend together knowing just how much they loved one another.  
Once they got on campus, it was around 9 P.M. Entering the apartment building; students greeted them. As they made their way out of the commons, they walked into the apartment checking everything was in check.  
Jumping off of the couch, Hizashi and Nemuri screamed. "Did you do it, Shota?"  
Confused about what was going on, Emi asked. "Do what?"  
Rushing to Emi, Nemuri grabbed Emi's hand checking for a ring. "He did it!"  
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Shota uttered, "Please tell me you didn't tell the whole school, Hizashi?"  
Confessing, Hizashi stated, "Well, I couldn't just tell everyone about it. Don't worry; I only told the staff about it."  
Taking Emi by the hand, Shota took them to his bedroom. "I've had enough of this. Goodnight. You better be out in the next few seconds, or I'm going to throw you out myself."  
As they walked out, Nemuri teased both of them. "You lovebirds better not have too much fun in there tonight." Winking before she left, Nemuri shut the door behind her.  
Disregarding what Nemuri said, both of them got ready for bed and plopped themselves on the mattress. The two of them were too exhausted to do anything tonight. The only thing that mattered to them was the fact that they got to spend time with the one they loved.


	10. Fleeting

Scribbling the last few details needed to complete her paperwork, Emi felt her heart race as if she were about to some life-altering choice that would ruin all of her relationships she developed from the last year. Nezu became a close acquaintance, especially since he was watching her closely at UA and sending her on missions to see how she would deal with a situation outside of Japan. Hizashi and Nemuri frequently came over to the apartment to chat or hang out with Emi, Shota, and Eri during the weekends. It wasn't long after the school year began that Hizashi and Nemuri discovered Emi suffered from severe depression and anxiety. Toshinori and Emi eventually went to talk at a coffee shop which gradually became a regular place for them to discuss life, struggles, and anything that was on their minds. It was strange to think that she had developed a close bond with the previous number one hero, trusting him so much that she would bring up certain situations to him before she did to even Shota.

Shota...he meant so much to Emi. Usually, she shared everything with him that was on her mind, but there were times where it felt like no one could understand what she was going through. It was difficult for her since she sensed that she was a constant problem for him. Her meds were regularly getting changed, she switched counselors twice recently in the last year and a half, and her emotions were going haywire, no matter what she did to try and cope with them.

Placing her pen into the side drawer of the desk, Emi grabbed the paperwork as she stood up.

"What are those for?"

Not expecting anyone to be in the room, Emi jolted.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

Turning around, Emi met eyes with her fiance. Grazing her fingers through her hair, she tilted her head as she pondered what was on his mind.

Approaching her, Shota wrapped his arms around her in an embrace. "It's fine; we don't have to talk about it now."

Biting her lip, Emi raised her head to make eye contact. "No, you deserve to know." Glancing down, she thought through the situation before speaking. "I've been filling out paperwork for a passport. Eventually, I'll be getting a visa."  
Studying her eyes long and hard, Shouta finally uttered, "Are you planning on leaving Eri and me here alone? Why the heck do you need to leave the country for and especially for that long."

Nervously playing with her cardigan, Emi briefly looked away. She knew that she would have to tell Shouta sometime about her work. Not about her being a spy necessarily, but that it would involve with her leaving the country. "I'm not planning on leaving you two alone forever; I'll be back eventually…"

Turning his head in disgust, Shouta contemplated on how to address the situation. He was hurt, and his heart felt like it had split in two. How could she leave him and Eri behind...it didn't make any sense.

Taking hold of Shouta's face by making him face her, Emi began to fight tears as she spoke. "Please, forgive me."

"Forgive you for what?"

"For leaving the two of you behind," Emi uttered quietly. Her hands trembled as she held onto her fiance.

Narrowing his eyes on her ear, Shouta inquired, "Are you saying that you won't come back to Eri and me?"

"I don't know," Emi mumbled as she cried into Shouta's chest.

Struggling to be patient with her, Shouta clenched his jar to control himself from snapping at her. "What do you mean you don't know. You either know, or you don't." He remarked.

Lifting her head from his chest, Emi could read mixed emotions of confusion, anger, and frustration in his eyes. Abrupting, she pushed herself off of Shouta sprinting out of their apartment building. Without turning to look behind her, she continued to run until she had no clue where she was. Hearing her phone go off suddenly, she took it out of her pocket to see who was calling her. It was Shota. Was he worried about her? Did he run after her? If he did, he would have probably caught up to her and tackled her in some way. Hitting decline, Emi couldn't help, but sob to herself. Picking up her phone, she dialed an international number. Waiting for someone to pick up, she questioned whether or not she should hang up.

"Hello, Fukukado residence."

"Dad, I want to come home." Emi sobbed even harder. She felt horrible for leaving her future spouse behind, but she sensed that she was a constant burden on him and Eri.

"Emi, what's wrong?" Concerned, her dad asked.

"I can't deal with myself anymore...I'm a failure, a nuisance to society." Emi groaned. Holding her phone in her right hand, she searched the area to see if anyone was coming.

"Don't say that! Emi, I thought everything was going so much better for you back home. Is Shota not treating you well?"

"Shota is fine. Honestly, I'm a huge misfortune to him. I don't deserve someone like him...he doesn't understand what he's getting himself into. I don't want to become a problem for anyone, dad." Emi answered as she rubbed her thighs nervously with her free hand.

"I haven't met the young man in person, but from all the video calls I've had with him, it seemed like he genuinely cared about you, hun. When will you ever meet a man like him again? Honestly, if I weren't across the other side of the globe, maybe I would snatch him up myself." Her dad said jokingly.

"Dad, what the hell!? You've been married for ten years now. Don't you think you finally found the love of your life? Supposedly, mom wasn't." Emi sharply remarked.

"Well...about that. I realized that I don't love your stepmom anymore…"

"...you mean you're getting a divorce again? Why can't you attempt to fix it? Isn't there any way you can figure out how to love her again?" Emi protested.

"Emi, it doesn't work like that. I'm not happy with her. I need something new and exciting." Her dad specified for her.

Stunned, Emi's eyes began to water, and tears streamed down her cheeks. "How could you, dad? Just because she isn't good enough for you with her looks or issues, doesn't mean you can leave her like that!?" Abruptly hanging up the phone. She wept to herself in despair.

"Hey, miss. Are you alright?" Asked a young blonde man standing in front of her.

Glancing up, Emi eyes met with the young man. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"Well, you don't sound fine, and your face all stained with tears. So, I would have to disagree." He replied coolly.

Briefly looking away, she couldn't help, but feel uncomfortable with the situation. "Excuse me, but you're making me feel uncomfortable."

Frowning, the young man responded. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel that way."

"Honestly, I would rather be left alone." She sharply stated.

Sitting down next to her, he implied. "Listen, I'll sit right here just in case if anything goes wrong. I couldn't imagine hearing about a beautiful woman ending up dead because I left her alone without anyone to protect her."  
Putting his arm around her, he brought her closer to him.

"You piece of shit!" Emi shouted. Getting onto her feet, she attempted to withdraw herself from the situation.

Grabbing onto her wrist, he yanked her into a tight embrace. "Come on, babe. I know what you want to do."

Sick of being looked like an object, Emi kneed him in the nuts. Wrapping her fingers around his wrist, she flipped him over the shoulder. "Now take that you, bastard!"

"Emi, what on earth!"

Without turning around, Emi recognized the voice right away. "I ran away, ignored your call, and yet you came looking for me even though you had no idea where I went." She painfully mumbled.

"Why wouldn't I come looking for you?" Shota stressed. Advancing toward her, he held his arms out in the hope that she would accept his love and support.

Backing away, Emi attempted to escape only to stopped soon after. Flusterated, Emi groaned, "Can't I just be left alone. I know I'm only a persistent problem to you alright."

Widening his eyes, Shota gently yanked her into an embrace. Holding her head to his chest with one hand and securing her waist with his other hand. Calmly he soothed her with his voice. "Emi, you are not a problem. I have never thought of you as a problem, and I never will. I'm not always great at saying or addressing how I feel, but I love you, Emi, more than anything. You've been such a great blessing to Eri and myself. I couldn't imagine my life without you."

Struggling to get out of his hold, Emi did all she could to get out of Shota's grasp but continually failed each time. Unable to keep her emotions in any longer, she started bawling. "Stop lying to me, Shouta. You'll get sick of me. Eventually, everyone does!"

Stroking her hair to calm her down, Shota began to hear her sob into his shirt as she mentally broke down. "Emi, I would never lie to you. I know how hard it has been for you to maintain relationships and I promise you I will never leave your side."

Snickering at his remark, Emi choked as she spoke. "You'll leave me eventually...after you get tired of my constant issues...and having to...deal with me."

His eyebrows drew together as he questioned what had set her off like this. "Emi, that won't happen. I will stay with you until death. Honestly, I can't imagine my life without you. I want to be the one to help and support you with your problems so I can see that beautiful, radiant smile of yours again." He assured her as he brought his hand to her cheek.

Turning her head to the side, Emi exposed to him. "You don't realize it now, but you will leave me, Shota. I know it, you hear it in the news, media, and all over that married couples are getting a divorce. My parents got a divorce, and now my dad is going on his second one. So what makes you think that we're any different."

Grasping the side her face, he turned it so she could make eye contact with him. "Emi, I am not your dad, and I could never do to your dad what he's done to you and so many other women." Lifting the side of his mouth, he reminded her of the promise he made her after they had agreed to move in together. "Hey, Emi. Do you remember what you made me promise you before you moved into the apartment?" Waiting for her to respond with an answer, he decided to continue reminiscing about their past. "You made me promise since our relationship was pretty serious already at the time never to degrade you and to never go to bed angry at each other. Do you know what that told me about you, Emi? About how strong you are to know that you will never deal with someone again who treated you like your dad did your whole family. You have shared with me about how you will do everything to make sure that our kids won't get the childhood that you got at home, school, or wherever. That shows me how caring of a person you are, Emi. You deserve to have someone to love and take care of you just like how you would take care of them. You have such a big heart. I would have to say that you have the biggest heart out of everyone I know."

Overwhelmed from his words of deep admiration for her, she began to cry even harder into his chest. Struggling to form words as she bawled, Emi muttered, "You're always so good to me, Shota. I don't deserve to have someone like you."

"Yeah, you do, Emi. I need you to see your self-worth and why you mean so much to the people who care about you." Shota assured her as he softly pressed his lips against her forehead.

Raising her head, Emi wondered, "What do we do about that unconscious man over there?"

Slightly turning his head to the side, Shota asked, "What did he do exactly?"

"Sexually assault me," Emi responded.

"Son of a bitch." Shota gritted through his teeth angrily. "Well, you did take care of him it seems. I have some handcuffs on me...we'll cuff him to the bench leaving the cops to find him after we call them about the situation."

"What then?" Emi asked as she thought through her foolishness and how she wished she could control her emotions for once.

"Whatever you want to do," Shouta replied as he started to dial the police.  
"I want to go to bed...and by that I mean sleep. No funny business mister." Emi dictated sassily.

Smirking, Shota teased her, "Isn't that suppose to be your specialty, not mine?"

Sticking her tongue out at her fiance, Emi forcingly laughed at his comment. "HA HA HA! You're so funny, Shota. You know me so well!"

Brushing her hair behind her ear, Shota joked around with her. "Yet, I have yet to be able to figure out how you're going to react to anything." Seeing that she had calmed down compared to how he found her earlier, he held a half behind her back and one behind her knees. Picking her off her feet, Shota carried her off bridal style as they made their way home. "Everything will be alright, Emi. I promise you. We'll figure this out together."


	11. So Long

Getting her bags packed to go over to America, Emi made sure she had all her paperwork done. Surprisingly, she didn't need the Japanese passport she applied for and received since she was an American citizen. Being both an American and Japanese citizen, she made sure to apply for a U.S. passport as well. Thinking about it, she didn't know whether Shota knew that she had dual citizenship.

Her dad was Japanese, but an American citizen being born and raised there, and her mom was born and raised in Japan. The two had met in the Fukuoka Prefecture when her dad had applied for a job in the area. The two fell in love and got married eventually having her and two of her other siblings. Her parents' marriage didn't last too long after she had started high school in Japan. Staying with her mom, her siblings went to America with her dad. It was difficult saying goodbye to her siblings and her father since she wasn't going to see them much anymore except for maybe once every few years.

With her dad or siblings not knowing that she was coming to America, she thought she would let it remain that way since they were not technically supposed to know about her undercover work. It would be a high risk for her family and herself if anyone found out about what she was doing plus she was flying to the opposite end of where they were living in the United States.

Searching around the house for Shota, Emi found Eri on the couch watching her television learning program. "Eri, do you know where your father is?" She asked, continuing to search around the house for him. The couple had finally adopted Eri, giving her a family to care for her, it was incredible to think that they were going to watch Eri grow up into a beautiful, caring woman.

With her eyes fixed on the screen, Eri answered back to her mother. "No."

Taking a deep breath, Emi sighed. "Eri, I know you're watching your television program at the moment, but will you come with me to find daddy?"

Crawling off of the couch, Eri ran towards Emi, grabbing her hand as they walked out of the apartment building and wandered around the campus. It took over an hour to finally find Shota. He was with a purple headed boy out in the middle of the woods. Emi had heard about the kid, but for some odd reason, she had never formally met the student who Shota shared his capture weapon with.  
"Why the heck are you guys in the woods?" Called out Emi from afar.

Cringing, Shota slightly turned his head and knew without even looking behind him that his fiancee had found him. Knowing that he should introduce Shinso and Emi, he specified for them. "Shinso, this is my fiancee, Ms. Fukukado.

Otherwise known as Ms. Joke. Emi, this is Shinso, the student I've been training."

Interjecting, Emi briefly bowed at Shinso and commented. "I figured."

Courteous, Shinso returned the bow. "The pleasure is all mine."

Standing still, Eri whispered to Emi, "Mom, can I go say hi to Shinso?"

"I don't know, can you?" Emi retorted back.

Immediately remembering her mother's talk about being polite and manners, Eri asks, "May I go say hi to Shinso?"

Smiling down at the girl, Emi cheerfully answers, "You may." Making her way over to Shota, Emi lays her hand on his shoulder. "I hate to say it, but I leave tomorrow for at least a month."

Glancing at the ground and back at Emi, Shota replies, "So you leaving us, aren't you?"

"I'm coming back, Shota." Emi retorted with pain in her voice. She was hurt that he accused her of such a thing.

"That isn't the point, Emi." Shouta specified.

Interrupting the couple, Shinso hesitated to say, "It looks like you two are busy with something. I should head back to the dorm."

"Stay," Shota commanded him without taking his eyes off of Emi.

Being on the verge of tears from her fiance's reaction, she knew that he had heard about her leaving for American for a month longer than a month ago.

"Shota, please don't act this way. You know how much this hurts me to be away from the two of you. I wanted to spend my last day here with the two of you, and I was hoping we could do something special." Looking over at Shinso, Emi invited him too. "Shinso, you're invited to join us."

Still hugging onto Shinso's legs, Eri looked up at him, crying, "Yay! Shinso gets to come with us."

Walking away from the group, Shota made his way back to their apartment.  
Running after him, Emi grabbed onto Shota's wrist. "Shota, please." Pleading with him, she could no longer hide the tears streaming down her cheeks. "I need you, Shota. Please do this for Eri at least. I don't want to end on a rough note. I hate the fact that I have to leave you two for a month, but I'll call you and message you every day."

Taking a deep breath, Shota grabbed Emi's hand, intertwining his fingers through hers. "You're going to owe both Emi and myself big time." He responded, glancing at her briefly.

Softly squealing, Emi gave him a peck on his cheek. Glancing behind her, Emi yelled for Shinso and Eri. "Eri. Shinso. We're leaving come on!"

Running after them, Shinso stood by his instructor while Eri continued to hold onto his hand.

"Where are we going, mom?" Eri asked. It seemed like everyone was in a hurry, and she didn't understand why her mother and father were so worked up.  
"Home, I want to make dinner for all of you," Emi said beaming.

Upon reaching the apartment, Emi noted how uncomfortable Shinso seemed the whole time they walked together. "What's wrong, Shinso?" Reading his expression back to her, she assured him. "Shinso, I would appreciate it if you came to eat with us, but by seeing how uncomfortable you are, it's fine if you leave. I just wanted to get the opportunity to finally get to know you since you spend a lot of time with two of the most important people in my life."

Yanking on Shinso's pants, Eri begged him. "Please, Shinso, come eat with us. Don't you want to spend time with us? Plus mom is a really good cook." She continued to stare at Shinso until he looked down at her, seeing that had big puppy dog eyes begging him not to leave.

Anxiously, Shinso stated, "No, I don't want to intrude on you and your family."  
Annoyed, Aizawa pointed out,"Shinso, Emi invited you to join us. If we didn't want you to come over, we wouldn't have invited you."

Now feeling obligated to come, Shinso nodded his head, accepting that he wasn't going to get out of this.

Upon arriving at the house, Emi went into the kitchen to prepare supper for everyone. Looking in the refrigerator, she noted all of the ingredients that they had. Grabbing some green onions, onions, beef, eggs, and vegetable oil, she set them aside to mix them eventually. Getting herself a pot, she added water and placed it on the stove. Looking to see what the others were doing, she smiled seeing that Shinso and Eri were getting along well. Not seeing Shota, she called his name out. "Shota, where are you?"

"I'm right here; love." Laughing at her as she jumped, Shota wrapped his arms around her and leaning his head against her shoulder.

Lightly smacking his cheek, Emi reprimanded him for scaring her. "Shota, that was cruel."

Smirking, Shota provoked her further. "So, are most of your jokes."

Rolling her eyes, Emi snarkily replied, "Well, at least I have a sense of humor. You know that I could always assist you in that."

Loosening his grip, Shota tips her down in his arms. Grinning at her, he suggested instead, "I would enjoy it more if you assisted me in something else tonight."

Pursing her lips, Emi's eyes blazed with desire at him. "Well, why don't you take that beautiful body of yours and hold me against it."

Reciprocating her feelings, he verified what she suggested. "I'll gladly do that tonight."

"Hey, why don't you help me with supper? I could use another hand." She said winking.

Pulling her up, he followed her to the counter. "What do you need done?"

Placing an onion and knife in front of him, she told him. "You can cut that, so I can finally see the fact that you do have emotions, and you're not dead inside."

Snickering at her, Shota grabs her waist, whispering in her ear. "Careful or someone may have to punish you tonight."

Running into the kitchen, Eri tugged on the couple's pants. "Mom. Dad. When are we eating? I'm so hungry!"

With Shinso behind her, Shota turns his head and immediately starts cutting up the onion, acting like never happened before the kids came into the room.

Wrapping her arms around Shota as she answers the children, she specifies, "It shouldn't be too long. I would say for about thirty minutes. If you would like to do something while you're waiting for supper, you could set the table together."

Letting go of Shota, she went to the cabinet to grab everything they would need for supper. Setting it on the counter, she left it in small piles for Eri to grab, so she didn't feel too overwhelmed by carrying too many dishes at once. "Here, Eri, they're all ready for you."

Skipping to the counter, Eri reached for the small pile consisting of two bowls and grabs them, making her way over to the table.

Taking the uncooked beef, Emi cuts it into small bite-size pieces. Setting them into a pan, she adds a little oil in and turns the stove a low setting.

"Do you want me to cut the green onion as well?" Shota asks as he points to the vegetable with the knife in his hand.

Turning to acknowledge Shota, Emi smiled at him. "That would be great! Thank you!" Putting rice into the boiling pot, she turned down the stove and put the lid on. Turning her attention to the meat, she flipped it over watching as it cooked. "Shota, would you cracked the eggs for me, please." She asked with a beaming grin on her face. "Thank you!"

Sighing, Shota got to work, retorting back."You're lucky; I love you so much."  
Giving him a wide smile, she returned to the meat. After ten minutes of flipping the meat, she tossed in the vegetables that Shota cut up. With him walking over to her, Emi gave him a peck on the cheek. "Thank you for all of your hard work. I appreciate it!" Seeing him blush, Emi chuckled to herself. Stirring the food a few more times, she turned off the stove and indicated to everyone it was time to eat by yelling for them. "IT'S TIME TO EAT!"

Coming up behind her, Shota asked, "Was it needed for you to shout across the apartment, Emi?"

Grabbing the pan and pot, Emi chirped. "Yup, it sure was."

Running to the table, Eri exclaimed, "It's time to eat everyone! It's time to eat!"

Not far behind her, Shinso made his way to the table. Seating himself next to Eri, he waited for Emi to set down the food for everyone. "What did you make?" It smelled good, but he wanted to know what she made, so he wasn't eating anything questionable.

"Whatever it is, it sure smells good!" Eri exclaimed for the whole room.

Setting the food on the table, Emi sat down along with her fiance, answering Shinso. "It's a beef bowl otherwise known as Gyudon. It's a comfort food which seemed like a good idea considering tomorrow."

Without realizing what was happening tomorrow, Shinso asked her. "What's tomorrow?"

Seeing her fiance cringe, Emi replied in a flat tone considering the fact that it bothered Shota. "I'm leaving for America tomorrow for a month."

Widening his eyes, Shinso was left speechless; he didn't know how to respond to that. Grabbing some rice from the pot, he put it into his bowl and then went for the beef.

"Is this a goodbye dinner for mommy?" Eri innocently asked.

Sighing from the frustration of listening to everyone talk about Emi leaving, Shota clarified, "Not in the way you're thinking. Mom is only going to be gone for a month. It won't be forever. She'll be coming back."

With tears forming in her eyes, Eri somberly questioned Emi, "Mama, why are you leaving us?"

It troubled Emi to see that she was causing so much distress to her family, and with her depression, it made her feel incredibly guilty about leaving them for her job. Was the new job worth it for her to leave everyone for a month? It sounded like such a great opportunity for her since she was no longer serving as a pro hero, but was this worth the pain she was causing her family. Trying to answer in a reassuring voice, she retorted, "I'm leaving to do some work for Mr. Nezu."

Having enough of the conversation, Shota interjected everyone. "Let's talk about something else. Otherwise, we can sit and eat here silently. I've had enough of this topic, and I don't want to hear any more of it."

Troubled about what her father said, Eri cried out, "Mom is leaving, and you don't even care!" Pushing herself out from the table, Eri ran to her room and slammed the door.

Getting up from the table to follow Eri, Shota was stopped by Emi.

"Stay. I'll talk to her." Pushing herself from the table, Emi laid a hand on Shota reassuring him everything was going to be alright. Approaching Eri's room, Emi thought through what to tell the small girl. Knocking on her door, Emi tried persuading her to open the door. "Eri, it's mom. I need to talk to you."

"GO AWAY!" Eri yelled. The girl had changed so much since the first time the couple had met her. She was shy and bashful, but in front of the people who she was comfortable with, she could talk to them for hours. She was still sweet, but if something upsets her, she couldn't hide how she felt.

"Eri, listen. I'm sorry that you got upset, but I would really appreciate the fact if you let me talk to you." Emi assured her as she leaned on the door.

Getting off her bed, Eri drags her feet across the ground and opens the door with a pouty face.

"Thank you, love." The only people, Emi called love was Eri and Shota; it was a way to show her commitment to them. Sitting on her bed, Emi patted the side right next to her for Eri to sit.

Closing the door, Eri dragged her feet once again to the bed and sat.  
"Excuse me, miss. That is not how you were taught to walk. Go back to the door and come back, walking the proper way." Emi dictated for her.

Pushing herself off the bed, Eri walked normally to the door, touching it, and walked back, pulling herself onto the bed. Looking up at her mother, Eri knew that she was going to be talked to about her behavior.

Talking about the previous incident, Emi teased the young girl."Eri, thank you for doing that. I'm glad to see that you weren't terribly injured."

Taking a deep breath, Eri looked away. She was annoyed at her mother's sense of humor. It did lift her a lot of days, but today she didn't want anything to do with it.

Putting her arm around Eri, Emi brought the young girl closer to her. "Eri, I know you're upset about having me leave, but I need you to know that I will be back. It'll be a few weeks."

Crossing her arms, Eri scrunched up her face. "That's a long time. Why are you leaving us at all! It's not fair that Mr. Nezu is taking you away from us."

Picking the girl up, Emi sat Eri onto her lap, cuddling her in her arms. "Eri, you know that I could never leave you and your dad forever. I couldn't deal with myself knowing the pain that it would cause you and him, and even myself." Taking a breath, Emi ran her fingers through the girl's hair. "Eri, I love you so much, and you know that. If you need to, you can message or call me every day once I have a schedule planned out. I'll be back before you know it."

With her lips slightly curling up, Eri acknowledged what her mother said with a nod.

Nuzzling Eri close, Emi asked. "Now, will you apologize to your father for your temper? I would appreciate it so much. Thank you!" Always wishing people could be more considerate and have more manners, Emi taught made it her goal to children just that.

Pushing herself from Emi's lap, Eri opened the door and ran out of her room to approach her dad. Jumping into his arms at the table, Eri told him. "I'm sorry for behaving like I did."

Knowing Emi asked her to apologize, Shota picked her up and set her on his lap. "Thank you for the apology." Kissing her on the forehead, he gave her a small smile.

"You guys made up!" Emi cried. Wrapping her arms around her two favorite people, she gave them both a kiss on the cheek.

"Eww, PDA Emi." Shota teased her.

Giggling, Eri played along. "Gross, mommy."

Sticking her tongue out at both of them, she stood up. "Does anyone else want anything to eat?" Emi asked before she took the food off the table and put it away. Coming back to the table, she sat herself down and persuaded them to do a family activity. "Does anyone want to play a game, watch a movie, or go on a walk?"

Checking his watch, Aizawa informed everyone. "Actually, it's Eri's bedtime."  
"NO! I want to stay up until mom goes to bed!" Eri blurted out, attempting to jump off of her dad's lap.

"Gotcha. Not so fast, little lady." Shota called out.

Giggling, Eri pleaded, "Daddy, let me go!"

Grabbing Eri from Shota's arms, Emi kissed Shota before walking to the small girl's bedroom. "I'll put her to bed." She told her future husband, letting him spent time with his apprentice. Cradling the small girl in her arms, Emi gave her an Eskimo kiss.

"Momma, will you read me a bedtime story and sing to me?" Eri politely asked with big puppy dog eyes.

"Isn't two pushing it?" Emi remarked, but looking at her daughter, she couldn't resist, especially since she was going to be gone for two months. "Fine, I'll do it. It will not become an everyday thing, though, you hear me? I'll do it on special occasions for you." Letting the girl down, Eri got dressed in pajamas.

Pulling herself up onto her bed, Eri tried pulling up her covers only to be tickled by her mother with a zerbert. "What are...you doing?" The small girl laughed hysterically.

"I'm kissing you! Isn't this how you kiss someone?" Emi teased.

Still hysterical, Eri answered. "No."

Acting like she was shocked, Emi hesitated when she answered so that the small girl would believe it. "...It's not! That's strange...are you sure that's not how you do it? How do you kiss someone, then?"

Giggling from her mother's silliness, Eri got up on her knees and kissed her mother on the cheek. "That's how you give someone a kiss!" She exclaimed.

"It is!" Emi proclaimed with her jaw-dropping.

"You're silly, mommy." Eri chuckled.

Embracing the little girl, Emi showered her with kisses. Hearing Eri laugh was music to her ears; she was glad to have that be one of her last memories of the girl before she left for a month. Of course, she would be back, but she would rather have the small girl know how much she loved her than not know at all.

"Now, let's read you a bedtime story." Walking to Eri's bookshelf, Emi picked out I Am a Cat by Sōseki Natsume. It was one of Eri's and Shota's favorites. It probably wasn't a surprise that Shota had gotten it for the little girl. Sitting down on the bed, Emi showed the cover, and the girl's eyes lit up. "Is it okay if I read this to you since this is daddy's book?"

Thinking through whether or not her mother could read the book, Eri nodded her head, answering, "Yeah, just this once."

"Okay, just this one time." Emi retorted back. Opening the book, she saw Eri's whole face lighten. She had never read the book to Eri, but she decided this one occasion would the one exception to the rule: Dad is the only one who gets to read I Am a Cat aloud. It wasn't official, but Eri always walked up to Shota when she wanted the book to be read to her. It had just become an unwritten rule since it was one of the few books, Shota had gotten for her when she was fostered by him. Noticing that Eri was making different expressions due to the fact, Emi read it differently than Shota even though he did get into character.  
After Emi finished reading the book, Eri commented, "You read it different than daddy."

Pursing her lips, Emi asked for Eri's approval. "Is that okay?"

Taking the time to consider her mother's question, Eri retorted after a few seconds, "Yeah. It's okay."

Wiping her hand on her forehead and flicking it, Emi gave a big sigh of relief.

"Phew, I was beginning to get worried there! Let's tuck you in now." Pulling the covers to Eri's chest, Emi kissed her forehead and sang her "Sleeping Forest" to fall asleep to.

time to sleep, time to lie down  
sleep peacefully, good night  
time to sleep, time to lie down  
let this child grow up to be a gentle person  
thank you, god  
thank you for angels  
good night, sleep at mommy's bosom

time to sleep, time to lie down  
sleep peacefully, good night  
time to sleep, time to lie down  
let this child grow up to forgive others  
thank you, god  
thank you for the people I've met  
time to sleep, time to lie down  
good night, sleep at mommy's bosom

Checking to see if Eri was asleep, Emi gently kissed her forehead and left the room after she was sure it was okay for her to leave. Entering the dining room, she found Shinso and Shota discussing the boy's internship. "Eri is asleep."

Getting up from the table, Shinso thanked the two of them."Mr. and Ms. Aizawa, thank you so much for the meal and having me over, but I should get going."

Holding her hand up to signal that he didn't have to leave, Emi insisted, "You don't have to leave, Shinso!"

Standing up, Shota made his way toward Emi and wrapped his arm around her. "Let Shinso go; he has school tomorrow." Leaning into her ear, he whispered, "This way, you and I can get some alone time." Adjusting himself to say goodbye to Shinso, he said farewell. "See you tomorrow at school. Present Mic is going to be there in the morning for me, though, you'll see me in the afternoon at least."

Confused, Emi glared at Shota, wondering what was going on. Turning to address Shinso, she wished him, "Good night! Sleep well! I'll see you in a month! You better keep on doing well in school, or I'll hunt you down."

"Emi, are you serious?" Shota questioned her.

"I find out from you how he's doing." She smiled.

"Emi, you know that I can't legally do that," Shota concluded.

Sighing, Emi pressed her lips together. "It was my way to enforce him to work extra hard for you by scaring him, but now you're all on your own. So good luck now." She said, walking away, dismissing him with an arm motion.

Rolling his eyes at her, Shota waved Shinso goodbye as the boy walked out the door. Advancing toward Emi, he shoved Emi onto the couch.

With her hands laid next to her head, Emi gave him a dirty look. "If you're going to go through with that, you should have just joined me right away. Instead, I'm here all alone by myself. It's such a lonely couch with just myself."

Growling, Shota stepped on the arm of the couch, sitting on her waist to hold her down. Leaning down, nibbling on her neck, he moved his hands up her waist to her face. "Why do you do this to me, Emi?"

Confused, Emi laid there doing nothing. She was waiting for him to clarify himself.

Sliding his fingers up her shirt, Emi gasped as caressed her delicate, yet firm body. Pressing his lips against hers, Shota slid his tongue into her mouth, taking off her top, and laying it beside them. Exploring her mouth, he intertwined his tongue with hers. Breaking away, a line of drool hung between them. Immediately needing to press his lips against hers again, he kissed her full of desire. Teasing her, he brought his hot breath against her ear, muttering, "Why are you so perfect?" Gasping from the sensation of his loving kisses, his firm, yet tender hands wander on her body, and his sweet nothings, it all made her want him more and more. "Shota, please let me have you."

Resting his finger against her lips, Shota shushed her. "Shhh, patience, kitten."

He rarely used this pet name for, Emi loved it when it used. Usually, it was used only when the two were alone, and he knew there weren't going to be distractions or obstacles in their way. "Shota, I need you now. Don't make me wait."

Sliding off her leggings, Shota taunted her. "Watch it, or you're going to have to wait longer, kitten." Stroking her thigh, he licked her lips, expressing his yearning for her. "God, I'm obsessed with you, and yet you're leaving me for a month."

Pushing him away, Emi didn't get far before she got pushed against the wall. With her back against the wall and Shota holding her wrists, she couldn't get away. "Please, Shota, let me go."

Concerned, Shota held her face, stroking it with his thumb."What's wrong?"

With tears falling down her cheeks, Emi cried, "You think I don't feel guilty already about leaving you and Eri? I'm not going to deal with this anymore. Let me go, Shota."

Wiping her tears away, Shota assured her by softening his tone. "No, no. I'm so sorry that you took it that way. I'm just going to miss you so much. It's hard to fathom that I went so many years without you. I love you so much, Emi. Please forgive me."

Glaring down at the ground, Emi tried to process everything he just said. Was he telling her what she wanted to hear, or did he sincerely mean it? Would he honestly still have her around her if he only wanted her for her body and to take care of Eri. He was taking care of Eri by himself without her for a while just fine, but it probably made it easier to have her around to help with the girl. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath to release her mind of all of the negative thoughts that were going through her head. She knew Shota loved her and that her mind was trying to convince her otherwise. Looking up at him, she locked eyes with him letting him know she forgave him and she still wanted him. Smirking, Emi into Shota's arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. Showering his neck and face with small, affectionate kisses, Emi whispered sweet nothings into Shota's ear. "Love, now give me the time of my life that I'll remember for much longer than just a month. I want you to send my body to another dimension, which I know you're very capable of doing."

Lifting a corner of his mouth, Shota returned her affection by leaning his head against hers. "Oh, I'll give you the time of your life, kitten."


	12. Suffocation

Arriving in New York City, Emi took a deep breath. Reaching for her purse, down by her feet, she set it on her lap and started scavenging through it, looking for her passport and her cellphone. Finding her U.S. passport, she unlocked her phone to check if she got any messages from Shota, Eri, or anyone else. Allowing her phone to connect itself back to the world, she glanced out the window. Most of these people on the plane were mostly of European descent, which meant that there probably wouldn't be a lot of Asian-Americans. Even though there was a neighborhood in New York City, it still wasn't the same as having people of the same descent surrounding you no matter where you went.

Recognizing that it was time for her to get up and off of the plane, Emi saw there was a massive line for non-U.S. citizens and U.S. citizens. With her being a U.S. citizen because of her father, she discovered that she got out much quicker. It was no surprise unfortunately that Americans had more benefits in some degrees, but she found it troublesome knowing that people who should have no problem such as a mom with two small kids had to wait for hours to enter the country.

Proceeding her way to the language pick-up, Emi checked her phone once again. Identifying that she had twelve messages and two calls from Shota, she couldn't help but giggle at the thought that he was spamming her for the first time. It was amusing to see that the tables had turned from her being the one who constantly spammed him to him now doing it to her.

Before checking out the messages, Emi playfully teased him, 'Looks like someone's already missing me and I haven't been gone more than twenty-four hours! By the way, I've landed in New York City. I don't know what it'll be like, but I'm hoping this month goes by fast, I miss you already too.' Sent 6:55 PM.

Checking the time, she noted that she was thirteen hours behind Shota and Eri. That meant that it was almost eight in the morning, which meant that Shota should be receiving her message. Pressing her lips together, she contemplated whether or not she should get a new phone considering she would be in the U.S. for a month.

Leaving the airport, Emi called for a taxi. Checking the cab for anyone else, she got in and set her items next to her. Without knowing an exact location, she requested, "Take me to the nearest Samsung store." She didn't know much about U.S. phones but figured she could start there.

Taking out her phone, she was about to text Shota about her decision, but she decided against it, thinking that someone might find her phone and connect the two. It didn't help that Shota didn't know what she was doing either. Pursing her lips, she thought through how to carry out the situation about her phone. How she to go from place to place? Was she bring both phones or one? She should have talked to Nezu about it, but it didn't cross her mind that this would be such a problem. Nezu didn't even leave any instructions for her to follow about where to live, how to carry out her new life in the city while she was here for a month, and how to contact her friends and family.

Buying a flip phone, Emi wasn't looking for anything fancy. She wanted something simple enough to get the job done. Receiving a message from Nezu, she discovered, he sent her an unknown number to call. Picking up the phone, she had finished setting up moments ago; she called the number.

"We've been waiting for Agent 092."

Listening to the voice carefully, Emi knew she had never heard this voice in her life. They certainly didn't have a Japanese accent nor an American. Who the hell were these people?

Continuing to stay attentive, she carefully took note of everything that was said.

"Agent 012 told us you were to arrive around this time. Your first mission will require you to go 253 W 125th St. You will be handed a vanilla envelope right in front of the Apollo Theater. They will pass it to you without making eye contact. You will pass each other at exactly 8:34 PM."

Discovering that they hung up, Emi went out to the curb. Waving down a taxi, she entered the car. "Take me to 253 W 125th St."

Glancing back at Emi in his rearview mirror, the driver raised an eyebrow. "The Apollo Theater?"

Nodding, Emi grabbed her phone out of her purse, looking at the messages, Shota sent to her.

Sent 6:13 AM: "It's going to be hard without you here. I can't believe I'm saying this, but Eri and I will be struggling a lot without you. I don't know what you're doing over there, but it's made me realize, maybe I take you for granted…"

Placing her phone back into her purse, Emi decided she had enough of his messages. Why would he be saying such a thing? She never felt like she was being taken for granted…Was there something about her relationship with Shota that she didn't know? Crossing her arms over her chest, she turned her head toward the window. The world was such a cruel place…sometimes she didn't understand why she was still here. Shota and Eri were the only reason she could think of to stay alive.

Pressing a hand to her throat, Emi took a deep breath, thinking about everything she had gone through in the last few years. There were plenty of times she was overwhelmed. Too overwhelmed. She couldn't handle anything, anymore.

Glaring out the window, she recalled schools were out on summer vacation. Reminiscing the days she spent in America during her elementary years, she remembered it was strange for her to get used to the difference between the American and Japanese school system, but she managed it along with her siblings. They had moved from the Kumamoto Prefecture to Novi, Michigan. The transition was difficult. Very difficult. Growing up in the Detroit area in the 00s, it was a different type of world out there compared to what she had back home in Japan.

Compared to her American friends, she didn't have a lot of free time to do the same type of activities, since she was gone studying at the Japanese School of Detroit on Saturdays. Going back, she wouldn't trade her education for anything. She had learned so much in the five years that she spent here from September of 2000 to June of 2005. During that period, her parents had gotten a divorce. Where her father moved to Seattle, Washington, and her mother stayed in Novi until she decided to fly back to Japan.

"Apollo Theater." The driver called out as he pulled out to the curb.

Awaking from her daydreaming, Emi came back to reality. Grabbing the exact change plus a tip in her purse, Emi handed the driver the money. Stepping out of the car, she reached into her bag for her phone. Checking the time, she noted there were only a few minutes to plan this whole scenario out. Having no idea what she was doing, Emi walked over to the corner of the block. Glancing at her phone, she advanced toward the Apollo Theater with only two minutes left.

Advancing toward the theater, Emi flung her hair as she strode down in her black flats.

Attempting to seem like an airhead, she hadn't decided on how to display herself to the public as she spent her time in New York City. What type of persona should she take on for herself? She probably should change her name too. She could go by Aria or Kira. What would her last name be? Takahashi was a common Japanese name. From now on, she would go as Aria Takahashi during her time here. Contemplating what else she should do before she settled herself down here for the month, Emi realized that she needed to invest in different colored contacts, wigs, makeup, and outfits. This whole experience could be quite enjoyable since she could create different combinations of disguises for her missions.

Coming back to reality, Emi jerked her head up, scanning the area for anyone who might look like the individual, she was supposed to get the information from. Sensing something brushing against her hand, Emi took ahold of it. Leaving the area, Emi saw that it was a vanilla envelope. There must have been something in there for her to carry out for her next mission or to share with the individual on the phone.

Heading to her new apartment, Emi chose to give the subway a go. Descending the stairs into the subway, she bought a monthly pass to save her on her travels. It would help her get away from anyone who was following her. She was hoping; it would at least. Swiping her pass through the slot to let her through. Figuring out the correct subway tunnels to get her home, she stepped onto the car.

Seating herself, Emi scrolled through her phone. Noticing that Shota replied to her previous message, she opened it.

JST 9:14 AM: "Eri cried for the last two days. She misses you…a lot. Eri came up with the idea to count off the days until you come back, can't say I'm too fond of that. It makes it so much harder for me to cope with the fact you'll be gone for an entire month. Promise me that you won't ever do this to Eri and me again."

Typing out a message, Emi tapped backspace enough times to retype her reply. "Shota, I can't promise that. I'm sorry…" Sent: EST 9:23 PM

It was a horrible reply. A reply with no empathy and acceptance of how difficult it was for her loved ones when she was gone.

About to check the other messages Shota sent her, Emi received a new text from him. Received 10: 31 AM JST: "Emi, why would do such a thing? Eri needs a mother figure in her life, a constant one. Don't put her through such a horrible thing. I ask you for her sake not to do this again, not mine."

Bringing her hand to her mouth, Emi could feel the tears forming in her eyes. Perhaps this was the end for her and Shota. Struggling to type, Emi forced herself to respond to his message. "Shota, I can't promise such a thing, not even for Eri. I'm sorry…" Sent: EST 9: 48 PM.

Unable to bear with the situation, Emi buried her phone into her purse. Attempting to take her mind off of Shota and Eri, she rested her eyes for a few moments. Blinking a few times, she looked around, wondering if this was her reality. With a deep breath, Emi bit her lip and waited for the car to get to her destination.

Reaching her stop, Emi stepped off of the subway car and walked home to her new apartment. Entering her apartment, the entire place was decorated with a modern interior. It wasn't her style, but she wouldn't only be staying here for a month, so she wouldn't have to be dealing with the lack of color and life.

Plopping herself into a chair, Emi yanked out the envelope out of her purse and tore it open. Pulling the documents out, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Why would they suggest for her to do such a thing? Reading the documents word for word, she was stunned to learn that she would be working with the CIA to capture the countries working against the U.S. By using her, they were hoping Emi would be able to lure double agents in through the fact that she wasn't a citizen or that's what they thought. Many people would consider her a foreigner though unless if she told them she was a U.S. citizen and spent five years here. She had to admit her accent was quite unusual since it was a mixture of someone from Kumamoto Prefecture and Detroit area, so no one would question whether or not if it sounded foreign.

Digging in her purse for her phone, Emi determined it would be best for her to check up on Shota. Glancing at her phone, she saw he had replied. Opening the message, she covered her mouth as tears streamed down her face. Received 11:02 AM JST: "Well, if you can't promise such a thing, I don't know what else to tell you, other than I don't see a future for us if you choose this path."

Clasping on the ground, Emi bawled what seemed endless. It hurt so much to hear him suggest such a thing. He knew what he was doing when he sent that. To Emi, it could only be seen as cruel to say such a thing. Her heart had shattered into a billion pieces, leaving her more broken than she had ever felt before she and Shota became a thing.

There was no point in even replying, so Emi sat there rocking herself back and forth, trying to assure herself that everything would work out for the best. With more tears streaming down her cheeks, she realized that she couldn't remember loving anyone more than she did Shota.

They had a beautiful relationship, and now she had destroyed it by taking up an opportunity to work abroad consistently throughout the year.

What was she supposed to do now? Beg for him to take her back, even though she would be gone throughout Eri and his life? No, she would have to deal with this, but no matter how hard she tried to cope with this situation, another part of her died inside, trying to forget him.

Everything in her was against messaging him again, except she couldn't deal with not having him in his life ever again. Opening her phone that was in her hand the whole time, she desperately began to type. "Shota, don't do this to me…I couldn't ever deal not having you or Eri in my life. I love you, Shota…" Sent. 10: 52 PM EST.

Waiting for a reply, Emi sat along the wall, holding her knees up to her chest. It was going to be a long month. A long week. A long night. She couldn't stop the tears from flowing down her face. Would she get a reply ever or should she cry herself to sleep? She wasn't sure.

—-

It had been a horrible day ever since Shota dropped Emi off at the airport. He couldn't imagine spending the whole month without her. How were Eri and him suppose to cope with not having her around to comfort them, make them smile, hold them, and all the other things that she did for the two of them?

Checking his phone continually, Shota waited for Emi to reply. He needed to know that she had made it safely to New York City. When was she ever going to respond? He didn't have the patience for this.

Taking out his phone, Shota typed her out a message. "Hey, kitten. It's only been a few hours since you left. Eri won't go to school tomorrow. I probably won't either. We were both too devastated by today's events that we're sure tomorrow will be worse. I know it sounds like a huge excuse, but without you around, there isn't any motivation for either of us to do anything." Sent. 6:35 PM JST.

Without waiting too much longer, Shota sent Emi another message, "Emi, I sure hope this isn't a regular thing since Eri and I can't even handle you being gone a day…" 7:12 PM JST.

Ready to go to sleep, Eri cuddled alongside her father. "Dad, when is mom going to come back?"

Brushing Eri's hair behind her ear, Shota soothed her, "Eri, it'll be okay. The month will be up before you know it." Secretly, Shota found it just as difficult as Eri did, but he wasn't going to tell Eri that. He had to be strong for the small girl.

Knowing, he was lying through his teeth, Eri confronted him. "You're struggling with it, daddy. I know it. You can't hide it from me; I'm smart. Mommy says so."

Softly chuckling, Shota affirmed what the small girl said. "You are smart. You make both your mother and me proud. Believe me; we'll make it just fine. We can video chat with her about every day."

"You promise?" The girl said with big glossy eyes.

"I can't promise you anything, Eri." Shota justified. He hated it to admit it, but with Emi being in a different country, especially halfway across the world, there couldn't be much done. Caressing the girl's cheek, he brought her in closer toward him.

"You and mommy will stay together, right?" Eri asked one last time.

Startled, Shota stared at the girl, clenching his jaw. He had nothing to say. He sure didn't think so. The two of them were engaged, and they both adopted Eri. Wouldn't he and Emi still be together? He would sure think so. If he lied or were unsure, Eri would figure it out eventually as she said earlier, she was a smart girl. "Don't worry about your mother and me; everything will work out." He assured her as he stroked her hair to help her fall asleep.

Falling asleep himself, Shota drifted off while holding the small girl in his arms. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't take Emi off his mind. He was confident that it took him a good three hours before he fell asleep, but he didn't keep track of the time.

–

Waking up earlier in the morning, Shota messaged Hizashi, "Hey, I'm not going to go to school due to the fact Eri and I both are a mess from yesterday. I'll be at school tomorrow. If you want, I can pay you back for this later. Otherwise, I don't want to make my students' lives hell more than I already do." Sent 5:45 AM JST.

Switching contacts, Shota messaged Emi again. "Hey, love. Hizashi is going to be working for me for the day. I had let Nezu know that I probably wouldn't be up to working today since Eri and I would be so emotional from you leaving. Still, miss you like crazy." Sent 5:52 AM JST.

Moving to his email, Shota knew he needed to give Nezu a warning that he wasn't going to be there today for classes. Shooting him an email, he left the email short. "Nezu, I won't be there for classes due to the fact Eri is not doing well." Sent 5:54 AM JST. He wasn't going to admit to Nezu that he was that emotional, the principal could probably read Shota fairly well to know that he wasn't going to do well mentally without Emi here for the next month.

Heading to the kitchen, Shota began to prepare breakfast for Eri and himself. He didn't have a lot of motivation to do much, but he had enough to make something for Eri at least. Making rice and some eggs on the stove, Shota set it on the table for Eri to come and get.

Advancing toward his bedroom, he woke Eri up by tickling her. Most of the time, he would never consider doing such a thing, but it was how Emi woke her up every morning. It probably got annoying after a while, but from what he could tell Eri enjoyed having Emi wake her up in such a way.

Giggling, Eri pushed Shota's face away. "Stop…I'm…awake." Hopping out of bed, Eri raced into the kitchen and climbed onto a chair. Beginning to dig in, Eri thanked Shota once he came into the room. "Thank you, dad! It's delicious."

Nodding, Shota ate the rest of the rice on the stove. Taking out his phone again, he realized he was going to have a horrible time staying away from his phone. He was already typing a new message to send to Emi. Would she be glued to her phone as well? He doubted it. With her new job, she probably didn't have the time to check on them twenty-four seven.

Sent 6:13 AM JST: "It's going to be hard without you here. I can't believe I'm saying this, but Eri and I will be struggling a lot without you. I don't know what you're doing over there, but it's made me realize, maybe I take you for granted…"

He knew she was going to answer for a while, but a guy could dream. Keeping Eri and himself occupied, Eri created a list of movies for them to watch for the day to keep their minds off. It helped for a while until he finally received a message from Emi.

Walking over to his phone, Shota unlocked it and quickly read it. "Looks like someone's already missing me and I haven't been gone more than twenty-four hours! By the way, I've landed in New York City. I don't know what it'll be like, but I'm hoping this month goes by fast, I miss you already too." Sent 6:55 PM EST

Smiling, Shota contemplated how to reply to her. He wanted to keep the cute, warm, fuzzy messages going back and forth, but he knew he had to be honest with the woman. She was going to be his wife someday, after all.

Sent 9:14 AM JST: "Eri cried the last two days. She misses you…a lot. Eri came up with the idea to count off the days until you come back, can't say I'm too fond of that. It makes it so much harder for me to cope with the fact you'll be gone for an entire month. Promise me that you won't ever do this to Eri and me again."

Taking a deep breath, Shota laid down the phone and walked away. Plopping himself next to Eri, he pulled her toward him.

Lifting her head, Eri sweetly asked, "Dad, can I sit on your lap?"

Slightly picking up her, he sat her down on his lap as they continued to watch movies. It didn't take long for Eri to fall asleep again. He guessed that she was exhausted from worrying about her mother and when they would be able to see her again.

Hearing his phone buzz, Shota stood up with Eri in his arms and went to check who messaged him. Without opening his phone, he saw Emi's message. Stunned, he contemplated whether or not he should reread it. Unlocking his phone, he went straight to Emi's message. "Shota, I can't promise that. I'm sorry…" Sent: EST 9:23 PM

Placing his phone on the counter, Shota made his way to Eri's room to put her to bed. Tucking her in, he kissed her forehead and left the room. Grabbing his phone, he sat on the couch.

Slouching, Shota made himself a part of the sofa. Resting his fingers on the bridge of his nose, he didn't know how to respond. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and slowly typed out a reply. 10: 31 AM JST: "Emi, why would do such a thing? Eri needs a mother figure in her life, a constant one. Don't put her through such a horrible thing. I ask you for her sake not to do this again, not mine."

Shota grew impatient before Emi responded. For a while, he was checking back every few seconds to see if she replied yet. After a couple of minutes, he set the phone down with the ringer on. Concluding that he could fall asleep and wait for the ringer to wake him up, he was alarmed when his phone went off as he closed his eyes. Raising his phone to face, he immediately looked at her message. "Shota, I can't promise such a thing, not even for Eri. I'm sorry…" Sent: EST 9: 48 PM.

Hitting the back pillow, Shota jerked his face away from the screen out of frustration. He didn't know how to react to her text. Resting his eyes, Shota carefully thought through on want to say back to her. After much consideration, he answered her, preparing himself for the worse. Sent 11:02 AM JST: "Well, if you can't promise such a thing, I don't know what else to tell you, other than I don't see a future for us if you choose this path."

Sighing, Shota dropped his phone on the couch and began to make lunch for Eri and himself. Taking out the rice, vegetables, and some fish, he set it on the counter to prepare. Filling the pot with water, he set it on the stove to boil before he poured the rice in. Adding oil to the pans, he added the fish to one and the vegetables to the other. It didn't take long before everything was prepared for the two of them. Setting the table for Eri and himself, Shota heard a buzz from his phone. Determining that he would at least get the table set for lunch, he laid everything out and ready to go.

Heading toward the couch, Shota shut his eyes before grabbing his phone. Turning the phone over, he unlocked it and saw, "Shota, don't do this to me…I couldn't ever deal not having you or Eri in my life. I love you, Shota…" Sent. 10: 52 PM EST.

Pressing the side button to put his phone on standby, Shota threw it onto the couch and went to get Eri. Waking the girl up, he told her, "Lunch."

Immediately, Eri got up out of bed and ran to the living room and sat up on a chair. Noticing something was off about her father, she questioned him. "What's wrong?"

Blinking a few times, Shota sat down and made eye contact with the girl. "Nothing other than I miss your mom." He wasn't lying, but he wasn't telling the whole complete truth either. Rather than telling her the truth at the moment, he determined it would be best to wait until he knew what was exactly happening between him and Emi.

Finishing a long, quiet meal, Shota got up, cleaned the table, and put what was not eaten away. Leaving the room, he went into his bedroom to lay down. As far as he was concerned, he had had enough for one day. Lifting the covers, he got into bed and tucked himself in. For the moment, this was the only way to get rid of the problem temporarily until something had to be done about it. All he knew if he and Emi broke up, there would be a lot more problems than with the two of them.


End file.
